Portretten van Herman Besselaar en zijn ouders c. 1930

Berti Hoppe’s photo album page shows us several images of Herman Besselaar and his parents in a set of gelatin silver prints. What's interesting to me is how Hoppe plays with arrangement to suggest a narrative. The tonal range is all about soft greys and muted blacks. The careful placement and the creamy surface of the gelatin silver gives each photo its own little atmosphere. Take the portrait where the family is grouped together. The way the light falls softly across their faces, creating subtle shadows, suggests a kind of gentle, intimate moment. It's like Hoppe is saying, “Here’s a slice of life, caught in the act of being lived.” Think about how painters like Richter used photography as source material, turning personal snapshots into something more abstract and universal. It makes you wonder about the stories these pictures hold and how much of that story we can ever really know.