Twee groepsportretten van Greet en Lien Lapp met twee kinderen van B.S. Rairden, in een vijver, Wanasari 1909

Carolina Onnen captured these two group portraits of Greet and Lien Lapp with two children of B.S. Rairden in a pond in Wanasari. You know, looking at these women, up to their knees in the water, I'm thinking about the moment of taking a picture. It's like the start of a painting – that initial interaction. What were they all thinking? How long did they stand still for the photo? I can imagine Carolina, wading in the water, directing her models and getting the right light. Photography and painting are always in a dialogue, constantly influencing each other. Painters were obsessed with photography when it came out, and vice versa. And what's so cool is that both are about capturing a moment, a feeling, a state of mind. This photograph is such a simple scene, but so full of life and mystery. Isn't that what art is all about?