Untitled (bust length portrait of clean shaven man labeled John Webster Knowles) 1886 - 1887

Editor: This is an untitled portrait by Pach Brothers, of a man named John Webster Knowles. It's a small photo, almost faded, and yet his gaze is still so direct. What do you see when you look at him? Curator: I see a ghost from a time when photography was magic, not mundane. The sepia tones lend him an air of both fragility and permanence. Do you think he knew this image would outlive him? Editor: That's such a lovely way of putting it. I hadn't considered the photograph's own legacy, and our relationship to it now. Curator: Exactly! It's not just a picture of a man; it's a portal. A whispered hello from the past.