Aletta Cornelia Anna Voombergh (1828-1913), moeder van de fotograaf, lezend aan een tafel achter het huis 1905

This photograph by Henry Pauw van Wieldrecht captures his mother, Aletta Cornelia Anna Voombergh, reading at a table behind their house. Imagine him, carefully framing this intimate moment, seeking the right light to capture her likeness, the soft grass underfoot. I wonder what she's reading? You can almost feel the quiet rustle of pages turning and the warmth of the sun filtering through the trees. The way the light catches the lace on the tablecloth… it's all so delicate, so full of feeling. It reminds me a little of Vuillard, the way he captured domestic life with such tenderness. The black and white tones lend a timeless quality, like a memory half-forgotten, half-remembered. But it’s also deeply personal – a son’s attempt to hold onto a fleeting moment with his mother. We all have our own ways of preserving memories, and I guess, for Pauw van Wieldrecht, it was through the lens of his camera. Like all artists, he’s in conversation with time, memory, and love, using his medium to find meaning in the everyday.