Portret van een vrouw met West-Friese klederdrachtmuts 1883 - 1910

Editor: Here we have a vintage photograph, *Portret van een vrouw met West-Friese klederdrachtmuts,* or *Portrait of a Woman in West Frisian Traditional Dress*, dating somewhere between 1883 and 1910, attributed to Johannes Laurens Theodorus Huijsen. It’s an albumen print, a bit sepia-toned...it makes me think about faded memories and old family albums. The woman’s gaze is so direct! What do you read into it? Curator: Ah, she does have that unwavering gaze, doesn't she? It makes me wonder about her story. It's more than just a pretty picture. Given the time period and her traditional West Frisian attire – especially that intricate bonnet – it evokes a certain pride in regional identity, almost like a gentle act of resistance against the encroaching forces of modernization. Do you feel that tension as well? The still point amidst what had to be a hectic transitional time. I like to think about that liminal space. Editor: Resistance? That’s interesting, I was just thinking about a frozen moment. It felt posed to me rather than defiant. Curator: Perhaps it's both. These photographs, intended for albums, served as calling cards to posterity, a way of saying, "I was here." But consider also what wasn't photographed, who *wasn’t* photographed, especially from more rural, traditional communities. Selecting to be portrayed this way, and documenting those visual markers of regionalism, is significant to me. Don't you find the light intriguing? Soft yet defined; it highlights her face while gently fading out what would likely be much harder realities. The choice, that choice alone, feels very present to me. Editor: I see what you mean about the act of choosing! I never thought of old portraiture as a method of preserving something about identity like that. Curator: Exactly. And perhaps it’s just a sweet memento! That’s what I adore about art - the ever-swirling, fluid, often chaotic and conflicting meanings, all right there on the surface. What a charming photograph!