Karel Frederik met Pauline en Lex Holle in het atelier van Hendrik Herman van den Berg before 1894

Hendrik Herman van den Berg captured ‘Karel Frederik met Pauline en Lex Holle in het atelier van Hendrik Herman van den Berg’ in a photograph where the sepia tones and soft focus give the image a dreamlike quality, typical of the pictorialist movement. The composition is structured by the horizontal line of the table and the subtle verticality of the figures. Note how each person occupies a distinct space, yet they are unified by shared props like the fans and the artist’s tools laid on the table. These elements might operate as semiotic markers, hinting at the sitters' refined tastes and their association with the artist's creative sphere. The interplay of light and shadow across the scene destabilizes any sense of fixed representation. This photograph, through its formal construction, invites a reading that goes beyond mere portraiture, suggesting a reflection on the nature of art, identity, and representation in the early 20th century.