Plantage Accaribo 1913 - 1930

This vintage stereo card, *Plantage Accaribo* by Theodoor Brouwers, is tiny, just a sliver of time and space captured on film, and it invites a certain kind of looking. The whole scene is steeped in sepia tones, soft focus, and the quiet stillness that old photographs possess. It's less about stark reality and more about a feeling, a memory. Look at the figures of the children, they're blurred, caught in mid-motion as they play on the rocking horse. It's a reminder that images, like memories, are always imperfect, always shifting. It’s the quality of light rather than the details of the image that tells the story. The sunlight filters through the leaves above, casting mottled shadows that are like a painter’s broken colour. This piece reminds me of the work of early photographers like Julia Margaret Cameron, who used similar soft focus techniques to evoke a sense of emotion and atmosphere. Both artists embraced the imperfections and accidents of the photographic process, creating images that are less about documentation and more about interpretation. In this way, photography, like painting, is about embracing chance and finding beauty in the unexpected.