Portret van (vermoedelijk) Engelse vrienden van Joseph Cheetham aan de thee in Rusland 1903 - 1904

Joseph Cheetham captured this photograph of, presumably, his English friends having tea in Russia. The sepia tones lend a nostalgic air, making the scene feel both intimate and distant. Look at how the light catches the samovar, creating a focal point amidst the gathering. The composition is straightforward, yet there’s a palpable sense of camaraderie. The textures are subtle—the tablecloth's delicate fringe, the men’s tailored suits. It’s a moment frozen in time. I think of early photography and its relationship to painting, both capturing a particular time, and a longer history, a conversation across artistic disciplines about representation and memory. It reminds us that art is an ongoing exchange of ideas, always open to interpretation.