Portret van een oma met kleinkind before 1902

This photograph of a grandmother and grandchild by Frédéric Boissonnas lives inside the pages of a book. I imagine the photographer carefully staging this intimate scene, maybe after many attempts to capture the perfect moment of connection. The image is small and square. The figures have been cropped so that the viewer focuses on the two faces, hers etched with the lines of age, his fresh and new. I wonder what was going through his mind when he took the photograph. Was he thinking about the passage of time and how generations are linked? This kind of image resonates with other artists who are working with the figure, such as Alice Neel or Paula Rego. They’re all part of this larger conversation. The work of artists has an ongoing dialogue, sparking new ideas and creativity across time. Boissonnas reminds us of the power of photography to capture moments of profound intimacy, while also leaving room for many interpretations.