Vier meisjes in klederdracht, op de rug gezien 1920 - 1940

This photograph of four girls in traditional dress was taken by G. Hidderley, we don't know when. Looking at it, I’m drawn to the sepia tones, like a memory fading at the edges. This color suggests a process of distillation, a reduction to essentials. The composition leads our eyes down the road, following the figures. The road’s surface has a tactile quality, almost like rough paper. I wonder what kind of camera he used? The light seems to emphasize the heaviness of their skirts against the lightness of the girls' bonnets. I like how Hidderley obscures the faces, drawing us into the scene. It is as though we are seeing the past as a feeling, not a set of concrete details. This approach reminds me a little of early photography by someone like Julia Margaret Cameron, who wasn’t necessarily trying to document a scene but to invoke a mood. Ultimately, Hidderley offers us a glimpse of a world both familiar and distant, inviting us to consider our connection to the past.