Dubbelportret van Katy Engel en Hermien Marmelstein before 1930

This photograph, Dubbelportret van Katy Engel en Hermien Marmelstein, was made by American Automatic Fotografie and captures two figures in a sepia-toned world. Look at the texture; it's not just in what's depicted, but also in the way the image itself feels aged and worn. There’s a kind of honesty here, a directness, no fancy retouching. You can almost feel the grit of the developing process, the slight imperfections that give it character. It reminds me of early experimental films, where the materiality of the medium is part of the story. Now, notice the soft blurring around the edges, like the world fades into a dream beyond the frame. The surface is smooth, yet you sense the layers of emulsion, the chemicals interacting to fix this moment in time. It makes you think about what’s visible and what remains hidden in any portrait. Think about how the quiet intimacy between the subjects is presented with a kind of formal, almost clinical detachment. It’s not unlike some of the work of Diane Arbus in its focus on the realness of the subject, but here without the same level of theatricality.