Kloos, Boeken en Tideman c. 1860 - 1915

Editor: Here we have "Kloos, Boeken en Tideman," a gelatin silver print by Willem Witsen, made sometime between 1860 and 1915. It's a group portrait, and its aged appearance makes me wonder about the lives of these men. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: This piece invites consideration of the very *act* of photographic portraiture in that era. The gelatin-silver process, a relatively recent invention at the time, democratized image-making, moving it from specialist studios to a broader market. Who were Kloos, Boeken, and Tideman, and what was their relationship to Witsen and the burgeoning world of publishing or literature, fields so reliant on both material production and intellectual labour? Editor: That's a great point! I hadn't thought about how photography itself was changing during this period. Were these accessible portraits, or exclusive ones? Curator: Consider the print itself: its degradation, the framing, even its survival. The materials are aged, bearing witness to handling and the passage of time. Its current context within the Rijksmuseum elevates its status, but it surely had more quotidian existence originally. Editor: So you are saying the way the photograph was handled, its history as a physical object, gives us insight into society? Curator: Precisely! Think about the labour involved: the photographer, the models posing, the processing of the print itself. Every step involved a conscious engagement with materials and a reflection of the social values surrounding representation. Editor: I never thought about photography in such a material way. It’s so much more than just capturing a likeness. Thanks! Curator: Exactly. It reveals how deeply intertwined artistic production is with material conditions. I will think of this print in a new light now too.