Boerderij met een schuur en een hooiberg aan een water, op de voorgrond een platbodem c. 1905 - 1907

Curator: What we have here is a gelatin-silver print dating from circa 1905-1907, titled "Farm with a shed and a haystack by the water, with a flatboat in the foreground," by Folkert Idzes de Jong. Editor: It feels intensely still. The light is diffuse, and that reflection in the water creates a sense of doubled quiet, like a hidden, inverted world. It’s so peaceful. Curator: Absolutely. Looking at the setting, with the buildings clustered at the edge of the water, and the simple, unadorned boat, one gets a real sense of daily life revolving around this particular waterways, reflecting the socio-economic dependence of such rural areas on them for trade and transport. Editor: Exactly, the very ordinariness of this rural setting – the weathered wood, the working boat, the unpaved banks, and the clothing hanging up—speak volumes about the rhythms of agrarian life. It really makes you wonder who lives in that house, what their stories are, and what they think about seeing their home memorialized through the photograph. Curator: Which brings an interesting question: was De Jong a documentarian, or an artist looking to make statements? Because it's part of a larger shift in early photography when it comes to moving from recording things as they are to aesthetic statements. The light and careful composition push it away from being a simple record of a landscape. Editor: I agree. There’s a deliberate arrangement. While seemingly an everyday scene, its subtle details prompt viewers to contemplate rural livelihoods and historical narratives surrounding land and water, while also raising critical discussions about photography’s role in representing marginalized populations and power relations of photographic authorship and representation itself. Curator: Very interesting how a single photograph can bring so many issues of production and circulation to the forefront, prompting larger discussions around socio-historical issues, identities, and power, to encourage reflection. Editor: Definitely, looking at the photograph has been such a powerful catalyst for thinking about representation. It really gets me wondering if photographs will be able to offer us something else down the line.