Onbekende jongen in een zeilboot, en Otto Blau tijdens een tenniswedstrijd 1912

These photographs by Carolina (Loentje) Frederika Onnen show a boy in a sailboat and Otto Blau during a tennis match, with the feel of captured moments. There is a soft, vintage quality to them; the sepia tones suggesting both nostalgia and the passage of time. I wonder if these photographs were attempts to capture a slice of life, the everyday joys and pastimes of people from another era. I imagine Onnen carefully composing these images, perhaps waiting for the right light or the perfect moment to press the shutter. The textures in the photographs seem soft and faded, as if the images themselves are whispering secrets from the past. It is so interesting to see how artists use the tools available to them, experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Onnen's work is part of a larger conversation about seeing, documenting, and interpreting our world. And it reminds me, as a painter, that we are all connected through the act of creating, no matter the medium.