Vier meisjes in Volendamse klederdracht op een dijk aan het water c. 1900 - 1910

This small photograph by G. Hidderley shows four girls in Volendam, Netherlands wearing traditional dresses and was likely produced as a souvenir. I’m struck by the overall tonality, the shades of grey are so muted. The details of the clothing are slightly out of focus so that the repeated patterns on the fabric become almost abstract, reminding me of Agnes Martin’s grids. The soft greyscale and slightly blurred texture gives the whole image a dreamlike quality, like a half-remembered moment. Look how the girls are holding hands; the artist has positioned the figures to draw the eye to their connection to one another. The four figures are receding into the distance, yet there is no real depth in the composition. The figures almost merge with the muted tones of the sea and sky, blurring the boundaries between land, water, and air. In some ways, this image reminds me of the dreamlike realism of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist interested in the quiet details of everyday life.