Portret van David Lloyd George, premier van het Verenigd Koninkrijk tussen 1916 en 1922 1916 - 1922

This photograph of David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was made by Ernest Herbert Mills. The way it’s printed, with those soft gradations of tone, makes me think about how much photography, like painting, is about light and shadow. Look at the texture in his hair, how it almost disappears into the background behind his head, only to emerge again as it catches the light above his forehead. The subtle shifts in tone create depth and volume, giving shape to his face and figure. Notice that small highlight on his left cheek, which gives an impression of a moment caught in time. Mills must have been influenced by painters like John Singer Sargent, who also used light to create drama and presence in their portraits. You see how the way an artist chooses to render someone can tell us so much, not just about the sitter, but about the artist and their own moment in time.