Baby in een hangmat gewikkeld in een deken 1913

This photograph by Geldolph Adriaan Kessler captures a baby swaddled in a hammock, all cozy under a blanket. I find myself wondering what it was like for Kessler to capture such an intimate moment. Was it a stolen glance, a quiet observation? I imagine the softness of the blanket, the gentle sway of the hammock, all frozen in monochrome. The photograph has this quality of holding still what is constantly moving. Like when you paint something, trying to hold onto a feeling, or a gesture. Thinking about it, this image, with its dreamy, unfocused background, reminds me of some early modernist photographs, where the world seems to dissolve into blurry light and shadow. It's like Kessler was searching for something beyond the surface, a feeling, or an impression, rather than a clear representation. And isn’t that what all artists are doing, in their own way? We're all just trying to capture a fleeting moment, a feeling, a little bit of truth, before it disappears.