Twee foto's van familie Van den Berg tijdens een vakantie in de Alpen 1930 - 1934

Editor: This work is called “Two photos of the Van den Berg family during a holiday in the Alps”, taken between 1930 and 1934 by Frank Willem van den Berg, using gelatin silver print. These feel like a casual family snapshots, but there is a formal, composed quality to each shot. What do you see in these paired images? Curator: What strikes me immediately is the subtle symbolism embedded in these seemingly simple photos. Look at the placement of the figures in relation to the landscape. In the upper photo, they are seated on a bench, neatly framed by the trees. The image carries the emotional weight of stability and social conformity during that era, almost staged in front of nature rather than immersed within it. Do you notice how the framing contrasts the freedom associated with the alps? Editor: That’s interesting. So, in a way, it’s about controlled experience versus something more wild. And what about the picture below? Curator: Yes, the image below, of people alongside a winding road and building perched on a hilltop, communicates the ascent, a kind of personal ambition visualized in the landscape itself. Think about what the 'Alps' represented during that period – a recreational place for many, but a place of livelihood for those who resided in these terrains, carrying forward a collective cultural history. It would be relevant to examine how Frank Wilhelm intended to visualize and immortalize this destination and the cultural experience he sought out of this particular place. Editor: It makes you think about travel photography differently. It’s not just about where you are, but what it represents. Curator: Exactly. These aren’t just family portraits, they're carefully curated scenes echoing the family’s understanding of their role in society and a visual story of that particular place. They chose to capture not just what they saw, but how they wished to remember it. Editor: Thanks, I’m really beginning to understand all the symbolism within!