Dootje van Zijll de Jong en een vrouw bij een meer, nabij Bandoeng 1933

This photograph, shows two women named Dootje van Zijll de Jong and a friend posing near a lake, nabij Bandoeng. The photo is printed in black and white and set into a kind of scalloped edged frame. It makes me think about how every photograph is, in some sense, a painting, even if this one has been produced mechanically. When I look at this I imagine the photographer placing the two women in the space between the trees. Did she know them well? Did they all set off together for an afternoon at the lake? I think about the surface, it makes me consider the relationship between the women and the calm surface of the water behind. The trunks of the trees feel really solid and still, but the water behind seems to be moving almost imperceptibly, shifting and shimmering. It suggests an ongoing conversation between artist, sitter, and nature, a dance of composition, light, and shadow. It captures a fleeting moment, transformed into a tangible memory, ready to be shared, examined, and re-interpreted.