Groepsportret van drie mannen kaartspelend en lezend 1861 - 1890

Carel Eduard Westerborg made this group portrait of three men playing cards, probably in the Netherlands sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The photograph presents a seemingly candid moment of leisure and camaraderie. However, if we consider the social context in which this image was made, we can see how it constructs a particular image of middle-class masculinity. The men are dressed in suits, which indicates a certain level of affluence and social standing. This implies a social setting of clubs and societies as institutions of male sociability. The photograph also invokes the history of Dutch genre painting, in which scenes of everyday life were used to convey moral or social messages. In this case, the photograph seems to celebrate the values of friendship, leisure, and intellectual engagement. By researching the history of photography in the Netherlands and the social history of male clubs and societies, we can gain a deeper understanding of this image and its place in Dutch culture.