Portret van een onbekende man en vrouw, staande op straat c. 1865 - 1900

Editor: This gelatin silver print, *Portret van een onbekende man en vrouw, staande op straat* – or *Portrait of an Unknown Man and Woman Standing in the Street*– dating from around 1865 to 1900, has this ghostly, dreamlike quality. I’m really drawn to the sense of anonymity within such a public scene. What catches your eye about it? Curator: What intrigues me is the figure's symbolic weight – despite being anonymous, they're firmly planted in our collective memory, thanks to the camera's unflinching gaze. Notice how the very ambiguity becomes a blank canvas? What emotions are stirred when you consider them representing all people, or no one in particular? Editor: That's fascinating, the idea of them being both nobody and everybody. It makes the photograph feel timeless. The setting feels both ordinary and stage-like at the same time, in a street. It also feels incredibly lonely, in spite of them being outdoors in an urban street scene, or possibly because of that. Curator: Absolutely. Streets as transitional places speak of broader journeys – physically, socially, or even psychologically. How do they trigger the sense of historical self when the identities of the photographed couple and photographer remain uncertain, almost like a cultural inheritance without parents? Editor: I hadn’t considered that! The idea of inherited anonymity adds a whole new dimension to how I see this image. It makes me think about all the unseen stories contained within it. Curator: Precisely, and that’s the real power of the icon, isn’t it? Revealing narratives woven deep within the ordinary. Editor: Thanks. I feel like I’m leaving with a new appreciation for not knowing. Curator: Indeed. Sometimes, what we *don't* know shapes our understanding more profoundly.