Groepsportret van een onbekende familie rond een tafel met daarop een viool before 1902

Hartog Philippus van Adelsbergen made this photograph of an unknown family, with a violin on a table, sometime in the late 19th century. Look how they’re all arranged around that table, a little stiffly, right? I bet Van Adelsbergen had to work hard to get them to sit still, especially if there were kids. Maybe he had to tell them jokes or make funny faces to get them to relax. The violin on the table is interesting, isn’t it? Was this family musical? Did they play together in the evenings? I imagine the dad playing while the kids danced around, or maybe they all sang along. It’s funny how one object can tell a whole story, or at least make you imagine one. I find myself wondering what Van Adelsbergen was thinking, what he was trying to capture. He’s part of a lineage, isn’t he? All those painters and photographers trying to catch a little piece of life, freeze it in time. It makes me think about what it means to make an image, to try and hold onto something that’s always slipping away.