Drie kinderen in een tuin before 1895

This photogravure titled “Three Children in a Garden” was produced by Emma Justine Farnsworth, an American photographer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Farnsworth was part of the Pictorialist movement, which sought to elevate photography to the status of fine art. This was, in part, a response to the increasing use of photography in documentary contexts and scientific research. Pictorialists like Farnsworth manipulated their prints to create painterly effects, emphasizing atmosphere, mood, and subjective interpretation over objective representation. Here, the soft focus and tonal gradations create a dreamy, nostalgic image of childhood. The children are shown engaged in play, evoking a sense of innocence and carefree abandon. This idealization of childhood reflects the social values of the time, particularly among the upper middle class, who sought to protect children from the harsh realities of industrial life. To better understand the significance of this image, we might look to photography journals and art criticism from the period, as well as social histories of childhood.