Lepelaar bij nest met drie jongen c. 1870 - 1940

Curator: Just look at this intimate photograph—a gelatin silver print titled "Lepelaar bij nest met drie jongen," placing spoonbills by a nest cradling three young ones. This work, dated roughly between 1870 and 1940, certainly captures a quiet scene, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Intimate is the perfect word. There is a stillness here, almost like witnessing a secret. A moment suspended. The gray palette only enhances that sense of hushed reverence, drawing the eye to the shapes instead of colors. Curator: It's certainly a change from a lot of works on display here. Made during the Pictorialism movement, it’s so interested in mood and composition over sheer realism, in achieving an artful photograph, almost painterly in its focus. It looks a landscape but still somehow has the feeling of a still life. Editor: And that’s so fascinating! Spoonbills, the white bird against the dark reeds and grasses – immediately the piece puts me in mind of ancient, almost Egyptian imagery, those iconic, simplified profiles in hieroglyphs and tomb paintings. They both signify a connection to nature, a simplified way of portraying movement and life... the iconic presence is compelling. Curator: You make an interesting point, but there's also this beautiful chaos! The blades of grass forming a curtain, not fully obscuring but softening the edges and light… the focus being the young fledglings, maybe only a few days old, their long spindly legs bent around themselves as the Mother shields them. There’s nothing quite as striking as Mother and child to trigger our emotions. Editor: It is truly primal, the universal appeal of protection, nurturing. The placement within those reeds becomes almost womb-like; nature enclosing the family. As humans, do we instinctively read into this scene? The safety and vulnerability present in these animals trigger empathy? Curator: It certainly is beautiful and quiet in its impact. It speaks to something deeply embedded in us. It will stick with me today. Editor: Absolutely. Something quiet and powerful in a delicate, gray shell.