Portret van Willem Jonker 1898 - 1900

Curator: Here we have a gelatin silver print from between 1898 and 1900. It's entitled "Portret van Willem Jonker" and the photography studio credited is Koene & Büttinghausen. Editor: Oh, goodness, that baby! What a serious expression for such a little one. There’s something hauntingly innocent about the gaze, and it just sucks you right in, doesn’t it? The monochrome tones also contribute to a timeless feeling; it could have been taken yesterday or a hundred years ago. Curator: Exactly. That tension between intimacy and detachment speaks volumes. The portrait format places Willem centrally, almost forcing the viewer into an immediate relationship with him. And you feel that historical context of childhood and representation so strongly in his gaze, his clothes, everything. The studio photography format was used, and still is to this day, to create a particular sense of self, but how much control did the child have in all this? Editor: Makes you wonder what was going through that tiny little mind! I also can't help but notice the texture; it's velvety smooth in the backdrop and on that luxurious fur he's sitting on, but grainy where it touches his face and those sweet clothes. Gives it an almost dreamlike, otherworldly quality, wouldn't you say? Curator: The softness definitely lends itself to idealised visions of children in the late 19th century. Thinking about gender, for instance, the infant’s attire blurs those boundaries – it makes you think about social constructs. What expectations does that build? Editor: Definitely. The more you unpack such an innocent image, the more complex it becomes. You look beyond just the child, but society itself! Curator: These early portraits often did attempt to codify emerging societal roles, in particular family dynamics. The almost unsettling seriousness in the child is such an invitation to probe those roles further. Editor: It’s fascinating how an image can encapsulate so much and challenge us. Looking at "Portret van Willem Jonker," it is an excellent example of how technical art meets with how we see and analyse not just what the baby is or how he is portrayed, but what he represents of us and our shared values.