Abraham Lincoln 1919

This portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Timothy Cole, it's all about the blacks, whites, and grays, mixed just so, giving it this wonderfully serious mood, but also an openness, as if he could step right out of the frame and into our time. What really grabs me is the texture, or the illusion of it. Look at the cross-hatching on his suit, it’s almost like you could feel the wool. And the way the light catches his face, it's all so carefully considered. It's not just about likeness; it’s about presence. Notice the hat sitting on the table, a simple shape, yet it carries so much weight. It makes you wonder what he’s thinking, what burdens he carries. It reminds me of some of those old black and white photos by Alfred Stieglitz, where the subject is almost secondary to the play of light and shadow. Cole and Stieglitz, both artists trying to capture not just an image, but a feeling, a moment in time that speaks to something larger than itself.