Foto c. 1895 - 1925

This photograph by W.G. Hondius van den Broek really messes with your sense of light, doesn’t it? It's like a weird mirror image, a process of reversal where what we expect as dark becomes light, and vice versa. The tonal range is fascinating; the bright whiteness of the ground almost feels like an over-exposed sky and the dark figure pops with unexpected definition, like a character emerging from the shadows of your own mind. Look closely at the man's face, the artist captures a striking resemblance, with those deeply shaded eyes and strong, white mustache, it's like the light itself is sculpting the contours of his face. It reminds me of the early days of photography, when artists were trying to capture something about the world, but also something deeply hidden, like memory itself. Think of Man Ray and his solarizations, messing with the medium to find new ways of seeing. Art is a conversation, a game of seeing and unseeing.