The complicated practice of representation in the form of portraiture is the subject of a surprising and powerful exhibition at the Hill Art Foundation in Manhattan. Forty photographic portraits from the photographer Robert Bergman are exhibited together with paintings and sculptures that span eight centuries of the practice of portraiture. The show is curated by writer David Levi Strauss, who faced the challenge of pairing old hand-wrought masterworks with machine-printed photographs. The confluence of modern photography and Renaissance painting in this exhibition not only works, but together they tackle big questions: who is granted the privilege of being represented? What is the relationship between the artist and the subject? How do humanistic and spiritual ideas like mercy manifest through the act of looking at portraiture?

We live in an age of relentless idealization and incessant posturing for public approval. But here, in an exhibition curated by David Levi Strauss, we get close-up photos of odd human faces, people whom photographer Robert Bergman encountered on the street. These faces are quirky, unconventional, even peculiar. These images are sometimes paired with pre-modern European portrait paintings that echo Bergman’s fascination with lives only partially revealed by their visages. I felt a fuller spectrum of humanity here, and because these views are so wide and varied, I could also see myself within them, flawed and yet touched with grace. —Seph Rodney