Portret van Herman Besselaar, een nachtgezicht te Rotterdam en de hond Black Possibly 1938

Curator: This photograph, possibly from 1938, is titled "Portret van Herman Besselaar, een nachtgezicht te Rotterdam en de hond Black." It is part of a photographic album showing Mr. Besselaar with several evocative urban shots. Editor: The whole piece feels like a personal scrapbook—the handwritten German script, the grid-like composition of square photographs. I find it really touching! The textures of those gelatin silver prints give the image such a strong presence. Curator: Exactly. Look at the portrait of Herman. There is such considered intention in this framing. Notice his jacket, the angle of the shot, the background all lend themselves to a man 'at one' with his world. Editor: I immediately consider its value as a series of four photographs or a series of cropped artworks rather than a single art piece; what could this speak to in our understanding of both artistic integrity, reproduction and even what the artist deemed the key focal point within the broader compilation of photographs in this style? Curator: That's an interesting way to consider it! We see not only the personal history but also the public persona. And in the third photograph we see "Wieder einmal Plaswyck und wieder einmal Black" - again at Plaswijk park, with the eponymous dog Black; the fourth featuring the shaved canine at rest, which speaks to the creation and consumption of images as family memory but also the use of darkroom processes available at this period for developing film at this time, I mean. Editor: And yet it's these glimpses of the material process—the black and white aesthetic of the photograph album, which makes me question how photography can transcend simple reproduction and offer tangible access to life’s ephemerality Curator: A really keen and thoughtful reading, especially when we consider how public this was ultimately meant to be as it's hosted in an exhibit for many eyes to gaze on in an exhibit. Editor: Indeed; it really adds another layer. It brings a quiet intimacy to the photographic process of remembrance that it really shines, when so much focus falls solely upon portraiture alone.