Twee mannen in een kano 1893

Hendrik Herman van den Berg created this photograph, titled "Two Men in a Canoe," sometime in the early twentieth century. This image encapsulates the rise of leisure culture among the middle classes in the Netherlands. Note the carefully posed subjects and the crowd of onlookers assembled on the shore, all pointing to a constructed event rather than a candid moment. The act of canoeing itself becomes a spectacle, an opportunity for social display and the affirmation of bourgeois identity. We can delve deeper into the cultural context by consulting period newspapers and social club records, which would shed light on how leisure activities were organized and promoted. By studying such materials, we gain insight into the role of photography in shaping and reflecting social values during this period.