Portret van twee onbekende kinderen met waaiers 1896 - 1910

Curator: There’s a poignancy that whispers from this old albumen print. Fratelli Desimoni captured these children, probably between 1896 and 1910. It's titled "Portrait of Two Unknown Children with Fans." The mystery is part of its allure, isn't it? Editor: Definitely a somber, almost haunting atmosphere to it, isn't there? They’re so still, framed by the ornate backdrop, like specimens pinned to history. The light catches the girls' faces, these matching dresses… were they rich? Poor? Who was embroidering the fans, making their dresses… ? Curator: I wonder that myself. This photograph isn’t just about visual recording. Notice how they stand—a fragile bond visible in the gentle crossing of their arms. There’s an emotional connection in how they both clasp these objects: fragile fans which speak of subtle flirtation. And these serious children, posing like grownups, each clinging to fans, creating this peculiar mirroring… Editor: These aren’t fans to cool them in the summer heat. There’s such control exercised—in their stillness, their carefully arranged clothing… I wonder how the studio assistants' labor costs were calculated, whether their low wages were enough to afford a Desimoni portrait for their own families. How this all plays into constructing and projecting certain ideas and certain people from the society and time period? Curator: You’re making me look at the production of identity here. Because despite the staged nature of it all, the materiality as you call it, doesn’t eclipse a sense of wistful youth caught forever, the photograph serving as an emotional time capsule. The ornate patterned fabric of the table and wall contrasts against their starched white frocks, it lends a certain innocence, a sense of fleeting youth… I just want to know their names! Editor: Well, their anonymity perhaps speaks to a bigger truth. To the unseen labor and cost involved with photography. While they stare into the camera, trapped in that moment in time forevermore…we might consider how class, social hierarchy, photography production itself are intertwined… creating the social mores that bound those individuals back then—and impact our understanding today.