Marronkinderen van het dorp Gansee bij de ontvangst van de onderwijsinspecteur Possibly 1910 - 1923

This small black and white photograph shows children from the village of Gansee welcoming a school inspector, and was taken in 1910 by an unknown photographer. The image’s muted tones and the way the light catches the white clothing of the children and adults makes me think about how photography, like painting, is all about capturing light. Look at the textures here, the rough thatch of the building in the background, and the soft, almost blurred forms of the children. The clothing, and the flags they hold, create a strong diagonal that lead our eye through the composition. Then there’s the dark smudge of the handwritten caption below the photograph itself, a direct mark of the hand of the person who documented the image. This photograph reminds me of some of the work of August Sander, who also sought to document a particular time and place through portraiture. Both artists used photography to explore questions of identity, community, and history, and remind us that art is an ongoing conversation across time.