Studioportret met klein kindje op een stoel 1915

This ‘Studioportret met klein kindje op een stoel’, or studio portrait with small child on a chair, was made by Willem Gerhardus Kuijer, using albumen print. The monochrome palette is gentle and dreamy, suffused with soft gradations of tone. I think about how the photographic process can flatten and objectify its subject, but also make an artwork that has an emotional weight. I think about the lighting here, soft and diffused, almost like a memory. It is like Kuijer is trying to capture the child’s presence, but also their innocence. The child’s expression, direct and guileless, speaks to a sense of vulnerability. I find this juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity incredibly powerful. It reminds me of the photographic portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron. Both are rooted in the artistic belief that art should embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed meanings.