Studioportret van een echtpaar, een Javaanse vrouw en een Europese man 1890 - 1915

This is a studio portrait of a couple, a Javanese woman and a European man, by Woodbury & Page, Java. There's a beautiful sepia tone across the whole image, that makes me think about the passage of time and how we view history through a particular lens. The texture and surface of this photo are really interesting. You can almost feel the smoothness of the card it's printed on, contrasted with the slight graininess of the image itself. There's also this kind of speckled pattern across the surface, it looks like the photograph has aged, giving it a sense of depth and history, like a painting with layers of varnish. Look at the woman's hand, holding a fan, the gesture is so gentle and poised. It’s the one distinct tonal moment in the image, it speaks to something intimate. I'm reminded of the work of artists like Félix Vallotton, who were interested in capturing intimate scenes. Like his work, this portrait seems to embrace ambiguity, inviting us to interpret the scene in our own way.