Vijf foto's van de familie Onnen met vrienden, Hilversum Possibly 1909 - 1912

Loentje Onnen assembled this photo album page of her family and friends around Hilversum sometime in 1909 and 1910. There's something so tender about the way these snapshots are arranged, like little windows into another time. I’m drawn to the tactile quality of the album itself, its cardboard pages and faded sepia prints. The glue that holds each photo in place is visible, creating a sense of history and memory. Each photo is a portal, really, and the album is a kind of record of the passage of time. Look at the way the light falls across the faces in the photos, like a soft caress, and notice the details of their clothing, the textures of the fabric, and the expressions on their faces. Are they aware of the camera? I wonder what their lives were like, what they thought and felt, and what stories they carried with them. This reminds me of the work of artists like Gerhard Richter, who also used photography to explore the themes of memory, history, and identity, but with a sense of cool detachment and conceptual rigor. Ultimately, these are just people like you and me, living their lives.