Portret van een kleuter op een stoel c. 1900 - 1920

This is a vintage portrait of a toddler on a chair, created by Wah Seng. Immediately, the photograph presents a composition of vertical and horizontal lines, mediated by the soft curves of the child’s features and the chair's design. The sepia tone contributes to the photograph’s formal structure, creating a unified, almost monochromatic field. The child is centrally positioned, yet the space is activated by the angles of the chair. The overall effect is one of containment within both the literal structure of the chair, and the framing of the photograph itself. This speaks to the way photography, as a medium, inherently frames and contains its subject, turning a moment into a structured artifact. Consider how this small format challenges fixed meanings by representing a child not just as an individual but as an object defined and confined by social structures. This photograph, far from being a simple record, becomes an exploration of space, representation, and power. Its continued interpretation enriches our understanding of its layered meanings.