Portret van een jonge vrouw met een halssieraad Possibly 1912 - 1915

Curator: So here we have a portrait of a young woman, taken between perhaps 1912 and 1915, by E. (The Studio) Worsley-Benison. It’s held here at the Rijksmuseum. I'm really drawn to how direct and modern she feels, caught in a simple photographic oval. Editor: It feels melancholy to me. She stares out with such gentle seriousness. Do you think the photographer was trying to evoke a particular feeling, or perhaps reflect a new assertiveness in women's portraits? The oval enclosing the woman could act as a barrier; alternatively, an object highlighting and guarding a precious subject. Curator: Well, portraiture was certainly evolving then. Think of Sargent’s portraits of confident society women at the turn of the century; this piece, however, is both formal and strikingly natural. I find myself thinking about the lace, repeating patterns so present on the blouse – which seems both delicate and constricting…it has almost a protective air. It reflects a visual language women understood; adornment was armour! Editor: It’s fascinating that you mention the blouse; in a time of burgeoning industrialization and mechanized reproduction, lace retains a potent, individual meaning of unique artisanal and ancestral knowledge, acting here as a symbol for that. How the iconoclasm of modernity contrasts against symbols of familial inheritance fascinates me – look, even the pendant, likely worn to signal commitment and a well to look after and care for a family – could it be the young woman questioning these icons by directly posing herself against the camera? Curator: I'd like to believe that. There’s definitely an attempt at realism here, a modern aesthetic but rendered with a traditional sense of formality, yet infused by a sensitivity, almost empathy from the photographer to the subject. It reminds me of photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron with its sharp details but softly rendered image – the woman in this photo could easily exist today, even if we strip back the slightly Edwardian style hair! Editor: Exactly – isn't it powerful how symbols and styles transform and yet continue to be charged with echoes of previous significance? Photography allowed for new icons to arise and the old ones to adapt and merge within evolving systems of meaning. A real vortex, this photograph! Curator: It makes you wonder what the sitter thought, doesn't it, stepping in front of the camera? We bring our own weight of looking, layering meanings across a century.