Portret van een jongen in matrozenpak 1883 - 1889

Editor: Here we have a portrait photograph entitled 'Portret van een jongen in matrozenpak', which translates to 'Portrait of a boy in a sailor suit'. It was taken sometime between 1883 and 1889 by Albert Greiner, and the medium is photography. It feels so…staged. He looks quite unhappy about the whole situation, doesn't he? What stands out to you? Curator: Absolutely. The poor lad probably wanted to be out climbing trees, not stuck in a studio. What hits me is the poignancy of childhood immortalized. He’s so small, almost swallowed by that crisp white sailor collar – a symbol, perhaps, of the vast world he was about to navigate. Imagine him, frozen in this pose, the flash powder momentarily blinding, becoming a piece of history in a time capsule, a relic, as though extracted from a yellowed family album. Photography was still fairly novel then, so there's an element of deliberate artistic intention at play, too, framing, lighting, a study in the ephemeral nature of youth and memory, not dissimilar from paintings or sculptures. What do you reckon, a success? Editor: Definitely successful in capturing a specific time! The formal composition really underscores the societal expectations placed on children even back then. I was so focused on his unhappy expression that I hadn't fully considered the symbolism of the sailor suit itself. It's interesting how photography was both documenting a reality and constructing an image. Curator: Exactly! It’s that dance between the real and the represented that fascinates me endlessly. This simple portrait contains oceans. Perhaps not so different than our own struggles of representation.