The Man From Moldovița | Wall Art

Weathered Face Beneath A Heavy Knit Cap

I photographed this elderly man in Moldovita, in Suceava County, Romania, working at a distance close enough that almost everything outside his face disappears. His heavy knitted cap has been pulled down so low that it nearly covers his eyes, leaving only narrow glimpses beneath the edge. That single detail changes the portrait. Instead of relying on direct eye contact, the photograph becomes about the face itself—the wrinkles around his eyes, the uneven texture of his skin, the stubble across his cheeks and chin, and the slightly parted mouth caught at the instant I pressed the shutter.

This kind of closeness is one of the things that continues to draw me toward street portrait photography. When I move in this near to someone, there is very little room for distraction. The face becomes the landscape.

Black and white was the natural treatment for this photograph. Removing color concentrates attention on the tremendous range of textures running through the image. The coarse weave of the dark wool cap contrasts with the fine lines of his skin, while the soft fleece collar creates another completely different surface around the lower part of the frame. Even the short facial hair becomes visible as individual texture rather than simply tone.

I also like how tightly the portrait is composed. His head occupies almost the entire square frame, while the background dissolves into broad, soft shapes. Nothing competes with him. The shallow depth of field separates the man from his surroundings without completely stripping away the sense that this was a real person photographed in a real place rather than a controlled studio portrait.

As wall art, this is a photograph I see working particularly well in a contemporary or restrained interior where a strong human face can carry the space without needing color. It may also appeal to collectors of documentary portraiture, photographs of Romania, and close observational studies of people encountered while traveling.

I offer this photograph as a limited edition of only 10 prints. Each print is personally signed and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, and I print the photograph using archival pigment inks on premium archival paper to preserve the tonal detail that is so important to the image.

For me, the enduring strength of this portrait is its simplicity: one man, one face, and very little between the viewer and the person I encountered, an approach that runs through much of my black and white street photography.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2011