Zes foto's van vrienden van Loentje Onnen 1910 - 1911

Loentje Onnen compiled this album of snapshots, featuring friends, using photography, likely between 1940 and 1941. Photography, as a process, is particularly interesting here, as it democratized the art of portraiture. Unlike painting, which demanded technical skill and long hours of labor, photography offered a relatively quick and accessible means of capturing likenesses. The development of roll film and portable cameras meant that ordinary people could document their lives and relationships, shifting the power of image-making away from the elite and towards the everyday. The very act of arranging these photographs within an album speaks to a desire to preserve and curate memories. The texture and weight of the album itself, the careful placement of each image, transforms these mass-produced photographs into a personal and meaningful collection. It blurs the boundaries between production, consumption, and art.