Portret van een onbekende vrouw in Zeeuwse klederdracht 1890 - 1914

This is a portrait of an unknown woman in Zeeland traditional costume, by Abraham van Overbeeke. It’s a photograph, but the way it captures light and shadow almost makes it feel like a painting. Look at the way the fabric of her dress drapes, those heavy folds and the subtle variations in tone. It's so textural. I'm drawn to the details around her neck, that lace collar sitting just above the neckline, and the small necklace. There’s a slight blurring, and yet those spots of dark on her dress are so clear, like little anchors pulling you in. It's almost like the artist had to make a decision about what to leave in focus, and what to let drift away. It reminds me of some of the portrait photography by Julia Margaret Cameron who was doing a similar thing a bit earlier. There’s something really intimate and vulnerable about that play of clarity and ambiguity.