Vrouw met twee kinderen c. 1860 - 1915

Willem Witsen made this photograph of a woman with two children, using a process that was still relatively new at the time. Consider the material reality of this photograph. It's not just an image, but a chemical reaction captured on a treated surface, printed and mounted. Photography democratized portraiture, but it also changed our relationship to labor. The darkroom work, the printing, the mounting - all were skilled tasks, but increasingly subject to industrialization. The sepia tones and the stiff poses speak to the seriousness with which photography was regarded. It was a new way of preserving likeness, a seemingly objective record of a moment in time. Yet, like all forms of representation, it involved choices, framing, and the subtle hand of the photographer. Witsen, as a painter and printmaker, was deeply involved in the artistic debates of his time. This photograph, therefore, shouldn't be seen as a simple snapshot, but as a considered work, engaging with the changing landscape of art and technology. It reminds us that even the most seemingly straightforward images are shaped by the materials, processes, and social context in which they were made.