Rembrandt at 400 Photo

Photographer’s Note

MORE LIFE IN A REMBRANDT

2006 marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt, premiere among painters of the Dutch Golden Age. The truly great artist can put more life in his portrait than one sometimes sees in the living. The ‘Old Rabbi’ of Rembrandt certainly shows more vitality and vim than the haggard looking pair of unidentified tourists sitting in front of the portrait. The scene is a corner of the extraordinary Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.

I shot this image on August 6, 1990, when the cruise ship, Royal Viking Sun, on which I was lecturing, was docked in what was still “Leningrad,” the gem of the Soviet Union in the Baltic Sea. It was shortly before the USRR had set upon its unremitting path to centrifuge its component-states, with Leningrad soon to revert to its original name “St. Petersburg.” The magnificent city of canals and palaces, museums and churches was showing the signs of long neglect. The collection of paintings in the museum, however, is still one of the richest in the world. I used a Nikon 2020 with fairly fast film, Kodachrome-200 slide film, especially rich in flesh tones, and scanned it recently.

chinchini, Theana, alvaraalto, worldcitizen has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

sebcz (2345) 2006-10-19 8:16

Hi Bulent.
I like the image - those three have very similar expressions on their faces :)
Regards,
Seb

ozi (4) 2006-10-31 7:51

Merhaba Bulent Bey,

Cok guzel yakalamissiniz.Yuzlerdeki ifadelerde tam oturmus.

Ellerinize saglik.

Bartman1 (158) 2006-11-25 13:25

I like your photo very much! the scharpness , colour and this people! GREAT!
greetings from Torun

suhan (3552) 2006-12-03 4:41

Kadın ve adamın yüzündeki müthiş ifadeyi çok iyi yakalamışsınız. Yalnızlık ve hüzün kokan bir fotoğraf. Teknik olarak bir şey söylemeye hacet yok ama kompozisyon ve kadraj çok başarılı.
Rembrant sevenlerden olarak bu fotoğrafınıza yazalım dedik. Bir de bu kadar çok ülke gezmiş olmanıza gıpta ettik.
merve-süleyman

wolf38 (12728) 2006-12-28 9:01

Hello Bulent. A very interesting candid photo and a good explaining text ton smile. The photo is real protruding and worth seeing. A good achievement. Best regards, Wolfgang.

alvaraalto (5231) 2007-02-17 18:27

Hallo Bulent,
I understand your reservation to post this revealing picture (I often feel the same reservation), but it is so fascinating that it is good to give us the opportunity to fantasize by the expression of the two faces.
That does not alter the fact the third face, the face Rembrandt painted, is doubtless the most genius part of the picture.
Rembrandt is to me, like Bach is in music, the source of all contemporary art.
In the art of painting one of my favourite combinations is Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh en Karel Appel.
In music: Johan Sebastian Bach, Alban Berg and György Ligeti
I’ll add a picture in the workshop I made lately in Leiden (birthplace of Rembrandt).
Groet Rob

[workshop] [compare] +

Brian (1) 2007-05-02 15:02

Hi Bulent,

This is a nice scan. I love their expressions. They seem enthused to be here! Don't you love to just catch people off guard. It makes me wonder if IT has ever happend to me.
TFS!!
Brian

Uhu (7374) 2007-05-06 5:29

So different expressions on the face of the old man on the picture and those two people. Its a very interesting photo, more than just a portrait in it. TFS!

eugen (486) 2007-05-27 12:38

Hi Bulent,
really a fantasic snapshot, with no special treatment but so simple, yet so effective!
One of my favourites, as I was born in Saint Petersburg and am very annoyed by the uninteresting postcard photos, people always take. This is something special. Thanks:)

With Regards,
Eugen

Buin (37514) 2008-05-20 9:41

Hallo Bulent!
I have had a walk in your collection and this one caught my eyes! A wonderful shot! this contrast between the painting and these two visitors is amazing - and funny! Your picture made me smile - what better could a photo do ...!?
Greetings from Germany!
Frank

DariaK (641) 2008-11-01 16:51 [Comment]

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worldcitizen (2251) 2009-10-11 14:57

Hello Bulent,
This is an amusing scene. How can this couple be so bored in the amazing Hermitage??!! Maybe they had a long day of sightseeing and were worn out. :-) The quality of your scan is very good, and Mr. Rembrandt does seem to have some life left in him yet. Thanks for pointing out this photo, which I hadn't seen previously.