De aankomst voor de Nieuwe Kerk van de begrafenisstoet van Emma, koningin-regentes der Nederlanden, te Delft op 27 maart 1934 Possibly 1934

This photograph, taken on March 27, 1934, captures the funeral procession of Queen Emma in Delft, though the photographer remains anonymous. I am immediately drawn to the way the dense crowd is captured as masses of dark marks, a textural contrast to the hard architectural lines of the church behind. There’s a somberness in the grayscale, a removal of colour that matches the solemnity of the event. But it’s the granular detail that really gets me, you can almost feel the crispness of the air, the weight of the moment etched into each figure. Look at the detail on the edges of the buildings, those houses that are slightly blurred in the background. The effect is achieved through the use of light and shadow, creating a sense of depth, a visual poem on grief. The way the scene is framed recalls Walker Evans' documentary style, a similar commitment to capturing the essence of a moment, unvarnished and true. It reminds me that art, in any form, is about bearing witness.