Portret van man in Volendamse klederdracht, zittend aan een tafel c. 1900 - 1910

Editor: Here we have a gelatin silver print from sometime around 1900-1910, entitled "Portrait of a Man in Volendam Costume, Sitting at a Table," likely by G. Hidderley. It has a certain quaintness, almost like a staged scene. What do you see in this piece, looking at it from an iconographic perspective? Curator: Well, the Volendam costume is significant. Volendam was a very popular location, particularly for artists from around 1880 onward, because of its preserved traditional culture, but especially the highly recognizable, colorful dress of the local people. These garments become shorthand, then, for authenticity, for a kind of escape from modern life. Editor: So the clothing is almost like a symbol in itself? Curator: Exactly. Think about how a particular type of hat might signify a cowboy in American film. Here, the clothes work similarly. They speak to a romantic vision of Dutch tradition and an older, simpler way of life that appealed to many at the turn of the century. Do you think it achieves that, or is it too posed? Editor: I think it’s too posed to be completely authentic. It almost feels like he’s playing a role, a character of “the Volendam fisherman.” He even has a pipe. Curator: The pipe, the drink, all props within a constructed image. Even that massive table is there to showcase and amplify tradition, like in a genre painting from the Dutch Golden Age. He seems quite at ease, though, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Yes, despite it being a set up, he inhabits the image fully. He is comfortable within the costume. I've definitely learned something new about how costuming can tell such a complete story! Curator: And how cultural memory and tradition get subtly encoded within such seemingly straightforward images. The very act of documentation creates new layers of symbolism.