Portret van Hein Boeken 1894

Editor: Here we have Willem Witsen's 1894 photograph, "Portret van Hein Boeken," a lovely warm-toned print. It’s almost like stepping back in time, don't you think? What initially strikes me is its wistful, almost melancholy mood. What do you make of it? Curator: Melancholy is a good word, yes! For me, it's like a whispered memory, filtered through a sepia dream. I see Pictorialism here, this impulse to elevate photography to art, a challenge to painting if you will. Did you notice how the sharp focus is really only around Boeken's face, softening as it moves out from there? What feeling does that impart? Editor: I guess it adds to that slightly out-of-time feel, almost romantic. Do you think that softening was intentional, or just… the style? Curator: Intention is always a delicious mystery, isn’t it? But look closer; Witsen was friendly with Impressionist painters, and they employed soft focus too. It almost feels as if he’s trying to capture light itself as much as Hein Boeken's likeness. The man exists almost in a fleeting, dreamlike space. Editor: So, it's less about perfectly capturing reality and more about, say, hinting at it? Curator: Precisely! Isn't it remarkable how he used what was then a very new technology not to record, but to evoke? I’m curious, does knowing it's Witsen's friend affect how you see him at all? Editor: It adds a certain layer, almost like peering into their personal world, like there’s a story hinted at beyond just the image itself. It’s strangely intimate. Curator: And isn’t that the magic? It’s an image and an impression all at once. Thank you; thinking aloud is so clarifying! Editor: Definitely! It is like there's a lot more here than meets the eye initially.