Untitled (re-photographed hand worked portrait of a woman) c. 1940s

This is a re-photographed portrait of a woman by Robert Burian, made with photographic processes. Here, Burian engages with an image that already exists, layering his artistic intervention over the original. We see a direct engagement with the materiality of photography, both its capacity to capture a likeness and its vulnerability to manipulation. The 'hand-worked' aspect suggests a tactile process, a physical engagement with the photographic surface. The act of re-photographing and manipulating highlights the labor involved in image-making. It prompts us to consider the role of the artist not just as a creator of original content, but as an interpreter and manipulator of existing imagery, and what the social implications are. In foregrounding process and materiality, Burian challenges us to see photography as a medium of labor, where the hand of the artist—and the technologies they employ—shape our understanding of the world. This approach blurs the boundaries between photography, craft, and fine art, inviting us to appreciate the rich layers of meaning embedded in this re-worked portrait.