Portret van een man met een snor 1878 - 1890

This is a mounted portrait of a man with a mustache made by Chéri-Rousseau & Fils. The sepia tones and the oval frame create a sense of timelessness, yet the man’s confident gaze is what captures our attention. The composition, with its emphasis on symmetry, invites a deeper look into the structural elements at play. The mustache itself, perfectly coiffed, acts as a visual signifier, a carefully constructed symbol of identity. The formal precision evident here speaks to a broader cultural concern with representation and self-fashioning. By framing the subject in such a deliberate manner, the artists engage with the semiotic system of portraiture. It uses it not merely to capture a likeness, but to encode specific meanings and values. This photograph exists in a state of constant re-evaluation, challenging fixed notions of identity and representation.