Familiefoto's 1939

Curator: Ah, yes, this fascinating album, "Familiefoto's," from 1939, is held here at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a compilation of gelatin silver prints—a photographic style capturing intimate moments of family life. Editor: It has a bittersweet quality, doesn’t it? Like sifting through someone else’s memories, a little haunting, a little warm, like sunshine through a dusty window. I wonder about the stories behind these grainy glimpses. Curator: The use of black and white photography in 1939 lends an historical dimension. Family photography became much more popular, particularly among the growing middle classes, as photography became more user-friendly and accessible to ordinary citizens. Think about the political landscape of the late 1930s, what would family life have been like on the eve of the Second World War? Editor: Right! The encroaching darkness and how these little snapshots must have meant something huge when things were so upside down everywhere. Did they know then what was coming, and did they take extra snaps just in case? The casual nature here hides an intense history. It all feels so fleeting. Curator: Precisely! This speaks to the intersection of photography and social history, reminding us of the ways private lives were entangled with broader sociopolitical realities. How collective memory and individual experience converge and diverge is just extraordinary. Editor: You make me want to create a family album...with all the messy bits! To just really pause on what seems so so-so to see how epic all our little journeys actually are. These photographs capture this really simply. I suppose I have an urge to go snap some shots now. Curator: A powerful impulse! "Familiefoto's" invites us to reflect on the meaning we ascribe to photographs and their enduring role in shaping narratives, both personal and historical. Editor: Absolutely. Art as a call to self-reflection. What's more radical and useful than that?