Vier mannen, zittend met de rug naar de camera gekeerd, voor een Japans kamerscherm before 1894

Curator: This photograph, "Vier mannen, zittend met de rug naar de camera gekeerd, voor een Japans kamerscherm," taken by Hendrik Herman van den Berg before 1894, immediately strikes me with its somewhat ghostly pallor. It almost feels like glimpsing into the past. Editor: Indeed, the subdued tonality gives it a sepulchral quality. I am intrigued by how the backs of the men’s heads form a kind of repeated geometric pattern, drawing your eye directly towards the depicted screen behind them. The composition pivots on this contrasting backdrop. Curator: And what a backdrop it is. The presence of the Japanese screen points directly to the "Japonisme" movement—a Western fascination with Japanese art and design that was at its peak during this era. These screens functioned as powerful symbols within Western artistic circles, representative of an entirely different aesthetic philosophy. Editor: It seems they were all the rage. Do you feel there’s some symbolism at play with the figures having their backs to us? Almost as if they're peering into another world, an imagined, aesthetic Japan, reflected on the folding screen. Curator: Absolutely, their averted gaze implies both respect and longing for this distant culture. Also, from a formal standpoint, consider how this arrangement allows Van den Berg to play with figure and ground— the dark shapes of the men juxtaposed against the delicate details of the painted screen. It forces us to contemplate flatness and depth simultaneously. Editor: There’s definitely something unsettling in being denied the full picture. Like, who are these men, and why are they arranged in this way? Their jackets look quite dapper though. But the way the photographer staged it denies narrative accessibility in favor of... what exactly? Is it commentary or just style? Curator: Perhaps it is that denial of direct access that is the point. By presenting us with their backs, Van den Berg highlights not their individual identities but their role as viewers, as consumers of this idealized vision of Japan. As figures caught within, and defined by, the vogue of their era. Editor: Well, thinking about the work’s textures and tonal relationships in relation to its art-historical position definitely gives a sharper focus. Thank you for drawing that out! Curator: The pleasure was all mine, particularly when analyzing such visually stimulating photographic prints!