Twee foto's van een steengroeve in Valkenburg en een optocht met koningin Wilhelmina in Amsterdam Possibly 1923 - 1925

These photographs by Hendrik Herman van den Berg show two scenes side-by-side. On the left, we see a quarry in Valkenburg, and on the right, Queen Wilhelmina in Amsterdam. It’s as if they are in dialogue with one another. I wonder what Van den Berg was thinking when he took these pictures. What was it like to be there? The photo of the queen feels crowded, active. I can almost feel the anticipation in the air. The quarry is almost the opposite - quiet, still, and yet the stacked stones suggest human intervention. Did Van den Berg see this as a metaphor for the queen's power? I love how he juxtaposes these spaces, inviting us to draw connections. Painters do this too; they put shapes and colours together, and it’s up to you to decide what they mean. It's never fixed, it's always moving. I think that's what makes art so interesting!