Twee vrouwen zittend aan de oever van het Meer van Tazenat bij Charbonnières-les-Vieilles 1904

Editor: This is "Two Women Sitting on the Shore of Lake Tazenat near Charbonnières-les-Vieilles," taken by Delizy in 1904. It's an albumen print, giving it a soft, sepia-toned quality. I find it strangely melancholic, perhaps because of the stillness of the water and the quiet figures. What catches your eye about this photograph? Curator: The stillness you mention is key. The lake acts as a mirror, not just reflecting the landscape but also inviting contemplation. Water often symbolizes the unconscious, the flow of time, and purification. Do you notice how the figures are positioned? Editor: Yes, they are on the edge of the lake and forest. Almost at the boundary of something. Curator: Exactly! The shoreline, then, operates as a symbolic threshold. We have two women seated at this threshold, perhaps representing the conscious and unconscious meeting; and like the women, we viewers stand at the threshold between the past and the present moment of viewing this image. Do you feel they invite us to cross over or hold us back? Editor: That's interesting, I think the calmness does invite reflection, a crossing of sorts. It is nostalgic, though I don't know why since I didn't live then. Curator: Yes! The photo’s nostalgia touches upon a cultural memory of simpler times, even though life then wasn’t simple for everyone. The albumen print, with its fading tones, only amplifies that sense of yearning for the past. So we see in this artwork how visual symbols connect us to the past, resonating with collective and personal emotions. Editor: I've never thought about photographs carrying so much symbolic weight. I see so much more beyond the women sitting on a lake now. Thank you for sharing that. Curator: It is a pleasure. Keep an eye out for the recurrence of visual motifs, because that’s how we keep these conversations alive.