Studioportret van Cor Solbach met haar kinderen Annie en Kees c. 1900 - 1920

Johannes Vlaanderen captured this studio portrait of Cor Solbach with her children, Annie and Kees, using photography, a chemical process, almost like alchemy in a way! Look at the sepia tones, like an old memory, the colour is barely there and yet there is an incredible density of detail, from the lace on the table to the floral decoration on the wall. And then look at the way the surface almost shimmers, catching the light. In photography the surface is everything, the image seems to exist on the top layer of the emulsion. It's a strange thing; to catch life in a moment, suspend it, but also fix it. The way Cor looks straight at the camera, she is present, but the moment is gone. It makes me think of the work of Lisette Model, another photographer who captured life in all its messiness.