Portret van Lucia Wilhelmina Piek-Jolles naast een onbekende vrouw in een gondel in Venetië, achterin de gondelier 1889 - 1893

Editor: Here we have "Portret van Lucia Wilhelmina Piek-Jolles naast een onbekende vrouw in een gondel in Venetië, achterin de gondelier," a photograph taken between 1889 and 1893 by Johanna Margaretha Piek. There's a hazy, almost dreamlike quality to it. I’m particularly struck by the sense of quiet observation. What stands out to you? Curator: Oh, the blurred edges whisper secrets, don't they? This image makes me think of those postcards from a bygone era, soaked in sepia tones. The composition almost feels like a stolen glance, a candid moment captured on film. The rigid pose of the woman versus the Gondolier far in the back gives such an interesting sense of their relationship, one being the paying patron, the other serving. What about the two passengers: do you sense a kind of quiet connection between them, despite not facing each other? Editor: That's a lovely point; they could be sisters, maybe? The connection is almost implied, not explicitly stated. Curator: Exactly! It invites our imagination to fill in the blanks, a visual haiku in sepia tones. I’d like to imagine what they saw. Do you think this might just be an aesthetic photograph, or more like documentation? Editor: Good point. Since this image looks pretty old, I bet that even simple photographs required time and dedication back then. That could explain the formal poses, the attempt to mark and preserve a memory, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Indeed. It makes me think of how much we’ve lost, all the untold stories hidden in attics, now given another view thanks to technology, eh? Editor: I like the personal lens you bring to it!