Pat Furnée en Elisabeth Kalff tijdens hun bruiloft Possibly 1950 - 1959

Editor: So, this photograph, a gelatin-silver print, captures the wedding of Pat Furnée and Elisabeth Kalff. It was taken sometime in the 1950s by Hans Nieuwenhuis Sr. There's something really sweet and staged about the image, and even a little bit humorous with the groom's formal top hat and the flower girls. What’s your take? Curator: It whisks me back! Remember those family albums, the kind you'd gingerly leaf through at your grandparents' house? It's more than just a portrait; it’s a scene lifted from life, genre painting captured on film. A stage-managed memory, like a dream, really. Don't you think there's an echo of Dutch Masters, the attention to light, the formal composition? Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't really considered it in relation to Dutch painting. It felt more like a personal memento. Curator: Exactly, that's the delicious paradox! The personal *is* political and cultural. The formality suggests something about postwar society – a desire for order and tradition perhaps? What’s striking for me is the weight placed on social ritual. It feels…almost theatrical, like life as performance. Does that resonate with you? Editor: Absolutely, now that you mention it. I guess that theatrical quality contributes to that underlying sense of humour that I picked up on initially. Curator: I think that humour comes precisely from the tension between the everyday reality and the high-minded ideals of the wedding day. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered before. Thanks, I learned a lot about thinking about the photo not just as a photograph, but as a cultural object! Curator: My pleasure, every picture has something to whisper if you're willing to listen. I think I'll now see family pictures differently!