Familie Kessler aan de dinertafel van landgoed Pauw 1913

Geldolph Adriaan Kessler captured the Kessler family at the dinner table of Estate Pauw in a photograph of unknown date. The Kessler family sits around a long table, draped with a white cloth, with a large chandelier suspended above them, illuminating the scene. The composition leads my eye from one figure to the next, with soft gradations of tone that somehow suggest the passage of time. I try to imagine what it might have been like to create this photograph. What was Kessler thinking when they made it? I wonder whether he asked the family to pose or if he tried to capture them in their natural state? I can imagine the photographer, Kessler, making many attempts to capture each family member, only to decide on this particular moment, with certain family members in focus. Artists are always in conversation and exchange ideas across time, inspiring each other's creativity.