Portret van een onbekende vrouw en twee onbekende meisjes 1912 - 1914

This photograph of an unknown woman and two girls was created by Bernard de Jong, we don’t know when. Look at the stark monochrome, the way the shades shift and blend. You know, photography is often seen as capturing a moment, but it's also about crafting something. You can see it in the formal composition here. Consider how the shades play across the subjects' faces and clothes, almost sculptural. The way the details emerge from the shadows, the dress of the seated woman especially. It's not just documentation; it's an emotional, atmospheric creation. Look at the little girl in the foreground, her dress in contrast to her dark stockings, she’s almost floating! Thinking about other portraitists, say someone like Julia Margaret Cameron, you see a similar embrace of light and shadow, turning the act of photography into something deeply expressive, something that transcends the immediate.