Portret van een onbekende jongen met een hoepel 1900 - 1914

This portrait of an unknown boy with a hoop was made in Alkmaar by Camillus Franciscus van der Aa. Imagine him there in the studio! It is difficult to tell from this distance the actual textures of the photograph, but I imagine the boy standing very still. It must have been interesting to try to capture a moment, and fix it. I can imagine him watching the boy in a way that is very still and thoughtful. I wonder what he might have been thinking when he was taking the photo. The surface of the paper is warm, and the contrast captures the crispness of a long-gone time. It makes me think of other photographers, such as Julia Margaret Cameron, and the way that they were looking at the world and trying to make sense of it through pictures. Artists are always in conversation with each other, even across centuries. It's like they are all helping each other to see.