Portret van een meisje bij een stoel 1868 - 1884

Curator: Look at this beautiful gelatin-silver print, “Portret van een meisje bij een stoel” or “Portrait of a Girl by a Chair,” from somewhere between 1868 and 1884, credited to Veuve J. van Koningsveld. The pose is so studied, the light so deliberate. Editor: I find it rather haunting, in a way. There's such stillness, almost a palpable quiet. It makes you wonder what the little girl was thinking as she posed, rigid. Curator: The Victorians had a certain ritual around portraiture. These were formal affairs. Note the chair, the potted plant, the ornate rug – these are all symbols, attempts to assert a kind of refined identity. Editor: Symbols indeed, like a visual language for prosperity and good taste. That carpet, especially; its complex pattern practically shouts 'status'! Yet, I feel like her dark clothing and stern expression hints at more complexity. Curator: Photography was relatively new back then, imagine how momentous the act of sitting for a photograph might have been! But is it only about wealth and formality? Perhaps the inclusion of the lush plants reflects on growth, hope, continuation? It gives depth to an otherwise straightforward image. Editor: Exactly! She becomes less a posed doll and more a young soul standing on the precipice of womanhood, even the chair which she leans on may indicate instability in social class, as there are not straight chair legs! The serious eyes that tell everything we cannot know. Even today, portraiture offers these ambiguous insights. Curator: There’s a tangible sense of something suspended. As though this image hopes to contain something essential about childhood itself and not just this one, unnamed little girl. Do you know, the idea feels as vital today as ever. Editor: Absolutely. And isn't that the power of photography? To catch those fleeting glimpses and keep them for us. It's as simple, and as strange, as capturing light.