Portret van G. van Thiel c. 1895 - 1925

This small portrait of G. van Thiel was made by Herman Deutmann using gelatin silver print. Looking at this image, it’s the surface quality that grabs me, the way the light seems to sit on the subject’s face. The tones are all very close together, almost bleached out, and that feels like a very deliberate choice. It makes me think about the image as an object, more than just a representation. The subtle tonal gradations remind me that the image is made of physical particles that render the image of a man from life. Focusing on the moustache, you can really see how much information is held in the texture, those minute details which make it look so fluffy and real. It also tells us about light and shadow; it's not just about the subject, but about the way light interacts with a surface. It’s this quality that links him to other painters who were also concerned with realism, like Courbet or Manet. It’s this attention to detail and embrace of ambiguity that keeps us looking, keeps us guessing, and keeps the conversation going.