Portret van een onbekende baby, aangeduid als de zoon van Gijs Kraaij 1880 - 1919

Curator: Here we have a fascinating albumen print dating from around 1880 to 1919, a portrait of an unknown baby, tentatively identified as the son of Gijs Kraaij, by Jacob Kuyper. Editor: It's precious, but a bit eerie too, isn't it? That stare is very direct. It gives off the energy of an old soul trapped in a child’s body, almost haunting. Curator: Child portraiture of this era walks a fine line. Photography was relatively new. It was a status symbol and these photographs were often treated as formal documents of lineage and familial status. We can see from the ruffled gown that someone invested in this child’s image. Editor: Yes, that pristine white gown speaks of innocence, almost like a christening robe. I also see the embroidered details at the hem are flower patterns. They represent rebirth, fresh beginnings. Babies dressed in white carried immense symbolic value back then. Purity, hope for the future, almost sacred. Curator: Exactly, and the material conditions surrounding photography made these sessions difficult on young children. Often the child was strapped into place so the image wouldn’t blur. Children became stand-ins for their families, they signified dynastic promise. And their garments became stages upon which family aspiration played out. Editor: I find it incredible how the baby's stillness almost elevates the moment. His small size amplifies that message of vulnerability, something universal about our fleeting existence. He’s looking right at us from the past, inviting a kind of spiritual communication. Curator: It reminds us how important such artifacts are, these photographic glimpses into lives otherwise forgotten, especially in their function to make the personal, political. To place families into wider social constructs. Editor: Thinking about those flowers and innocence and vulnerability combined with our fleeting time here... there’s profoundness hiding beneath the photograph’s surface. Curator: Yes, that’s the wonderful thing about old photographs—they hold quiet secrets if we give them space. Editor: I agree; time telescopes. Here, in this little print, hope remains for the remembering.