Alexander Gardner, photographer

[Dennis Urban]

It has been a long time since I studied that image in detail. I expanded it and looked at it in detail. It is a haunting image for sure. The focus could not be in Lincoln's eyes as they are not lighted and very deep set. I wish his eyes were in better focus. The focus is more on the center of his face and his lips. He looks troubled, as he no doubt was. Some of those who described him when he entered Ford's Theatre said he looked sad. No doubt. His remarkable aging in four years of war tells a story in itself. How very sad indeed.