Portret van Irene With met geit 1920 - 1935

This photograph, now held at the Rijksmuseum, captures Irene With and her goat. It’s a small picture, a tender snapshot, so let's imagine the photographer, whoever they were, trying to capture a bit of everyday life. Irene is posed but relaxed, smiling gently, while the goat stands patiently beside her. You can almost feel the texture of the goat's fur, and the soft grass under their feet. Was it a sunny afternoon? What were they both thinking? I wonder about the relationship between Irene and her goat, and between the photographer and his sitters. All these people are connected, in this moment and in this image. What are the power dynamics? What is the nature of their relationship, and the process of its depiction? I always think about that, when I look at art. Because it tells us so much about how people see each other, and what it means to represent someone in a picture. It’s a conversation across time, with its own kind of poetry.