Marba en Eckart Titzenthaler, kinderen van de fotograaf, op een balkon 1918 - 1919

This photograph shows Waldemar Titzenthaler’s children on a balcony, captured with a camera and darkroom techniques that were cutting-edge at the time. Photography, though now commonplace, was once a complex, labor-intensive craft. The sepia tone here is characteristic of early photographic processes, where the image is created through chemical reactions on paper. The very act of capturing this scene – the exposure time, the developing process – required both technical skill and artistic vision. Consider the materiality of this image: the paper it’s printed on, the chemicals used to develop it, and the mechanical precision of the camera. These elements remind us that photography isn't just about recording reality; it's about shaping it through technology and skill. Titzenthaler wasn't just taking a snapshot; he was engaging with the industrialization of image-making, a shift that democratized portraiture but also transformed it into a commodity. Looking closely at the photograph as an object, we can better understand its historical and cultural significance, going beyond the surface to appreciate the depth of its creation.