Groepsportret van een onbekende vrouw met drie kinderen before 1903

This photogravure by Hugo Erfurth captures a woman and three kids; it’s nestled within the pages of a book, a little world within a world. The tones are soft and grainy, like a memory fading at the edges. I’m imagining Erfurth in his studio, carefully adjusting the light, coaxing the image out of the chemicals. The woman, probably a mother, surrounded by her children. I wonder what she was thinking, what their lives were like back then. There’s a stillness, a quiet intimacy that speaks across time. The whole scene reminds me of a Morisot painting: casual yet composed, with a touch of melancholy. These old photos feel like a connection to the past. The surface has a tactile quality; the ink lies on the page, just like paint on a canvas. It’s a reminder that art, in any form, is about seeing and feeling. It’s about translating the world into something meaningful, something that resonates.