Portret van Pieter en Eegje Haan 1912 - 1928

Alida Beerding took this photograph of Pieter and Eegje Haan, we don’t know exactly when. It’s a study in grey, from the muted backdrop to their solemn expressions. I’m drawn to the way Beerding handles the light, soft and diffused, like a memory fading at the edges. Look at their hands, clasped together. There's a certain weight to the gesture, a formal, almost adult solemnity captured in miniature. It speaks to the constraints and expectations placed on children, a theme I often explore in my own work. The texture of their clothes, the delicate lace collar, the faint sheen on the boy’s velvet suit – these details aren't just documentation; they're the very stuff of feeling, capturing something essential about time, place, and identity. It reminds me of the work of Gertrude Käsebier, particularly her portraits of mothers and children, where the personal and the archetypal intertwine. Both artists seem to be asking: what does it mean to see, to remember, to hold onto the ephemeral nature of childhood?