Fotoalbum van familie Van den Berg tijdens een verblijf in Blaricum, 1913 1913

Hendrik Herman van den Berg made this photograph album around 1913 to document his family’s stay in Blaricum. The album is made from card stock, printed with a stylized image of a sailboat on the water, and tied with a silk ribbon. The materials here tell us something about the culture of photography at this time. This was an era when photography was becoming accessible to a broader public, but still retained a sense of specialness. The family album was a prized possession, and often assembled with care, with personal annotations. The album cover, with its printed decoration, suggests an object made using industrial processes, yet still retaining an element of handcraft. The paper would have been produced in a factory, but somebody also had to design, print, cut, and assemble the album. This artifact bridges the gap between commercial production and the intimate sphere of family life. Van den Berg's album challenges traditional art history's separation of fine art and craft by highlighting how the convergence of materials, making, and context shape our understanding of its significance.