Portret van een staand echtpaar, vrouw met boeket en hoed, man met handschoenen 1890 - 1920

Leopold Jacqmain made this photograph of a standing couple, she with a bouquet and hat, and he with gloves, at an unknown date. Doesn’t it feel like we’re peeking into their world? The way they posed so formally, so rigidly, it’s like they’re presenting themselves to history, wanting to be remembered. I think about Jacqmain, carefully framing this moment, trying to capture something essential about these people. Were they nervous? Excited? Probably a little of both. I keep looking at the hat—that huge, feathered hat! It’s so over-the-top, you know? But it tells you everything about the era, the fashion, the aspirations. It’s like a little sculpture sitting right there on her head. Makes me wonder about all the conversations, the unspoken stories, that are hiding just beneath the surface.