Waldemar Titzenthaler, de fotograaf, met zijn echtgenote Olga en kinderen Marba en Eckart zittend in een veld Possibly 1917 - 1918

Waldemar Titzenthaler made this photograph of his family at some point in his life. The image shows Titzenthaler, his wife Olga, and their children Marba and Eckart, all seated in a field. I'm immediately drawn to the way they’re all arranged, kind of formally, but also not really. They're trying to look casual, like they are just chilling in the park, but you know there’s all this equipment, and he’s probably bossing them around with the poses and the light and stuff. I mean, he’s a photographer, right? He must have been totally in charge. I feel for Olga. She looks… not thrilled? Maybe just tired. I can imagine him setting up the shot, fussing over the details, while she’s wrangling the kids, trying to get them to sit still and smile. It's a lovely, simple, snapshot, and I guess what makes it work is the way everyone seems to have an inner life, even though they're all posing. It's like everyone's trying to be a star, but somehow they're also human.