Portret van een onbekend kind, vermoedelijk gerelateerd aan de familie Marmelstein c. 1888 - 1930

This is a portrait of an unknown child, probably related to the Marmelstein family, made by Friedrich Carel Hisgen. I find the sepia tones really interesting. It's like the whole world is dipped in a memory. Look how the light catches the baby's skin, soft and blurred, emphasizing the roundness of their cheeks. The neutral backdrop makes the child the center. There's something very intimate about this kind of staged photography. It’s both an attempt to capture a fleeting moment and to construct a lasting image. The oval frame creates a contained space, as if preserving the baby in time. Thinking about contemporary photographers like Rineke Dijkstra, who also uses straightforward portraiture, reminds me that the simple act of looking can become profound when an artist carefully considers light, pose, and context. It reminds us that art is always in dialogue with what came before, playing with familiar forms to create new meanings.