Groepsportret van drie onbekende mannen in een boot 1898 - 1910

This photograph, *Groepsportret van drie onbekende mannen in een boot*, was taken by Wilhelm Moonen. It’s a small picture, only about 10cm high. I’m wondering what it might have been like for Wilhelm to make this image. Did he plan it carefully or capture it spontaneously? There’s a formal quality to the scene—three men posed in a boat, each wearing a waistcoat and tie. But there’s also something unresolved, particularly in the man on the left, whose gaze is directed off-frame. I sympathize with Wilhelm, who had the task of capturing this moment and conveying something of these men's personalities. What was the atmosphere like on the day, and what conversations took place? Photographers, like painters, are in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time. As a painter myself, I find myself looking for the painterly elements. I see the tonal range from light to dark, the textural qualities, and the way these formal elements contribute to the overall meaning of the image.