Gezelschap bij een Fokker F.II c. 1920 - 1930

Editor: This photograph, taken sometime between 1920 and 1930, is titled "Gezelschap bij een Fokker F.II," or "Company by a Fokker F.II." It's an anonymous work in the Rijksmuseum, a historical portrait captured through photography. The mood is undeniably one of fascination and curiosity. What strikes you about this gathering? Curator: Well, my eye is drawn to the symbology inherent in the placement of figures relative to the plane. Notice how the Fokker F.II looms – a potent symbol of progress, modernity, even power in that era. The gentlemen assembled beneath its wing? They are, in a sense, being inducted into that narrative of advancement. There's a transfer of cultural weight happening visually. Editor: That’s an interesting way to think about it. So, it’s not just a record of an event, but also a kind of ritual? Curator: Precisely! Think about the early 20th century – flight was still a relatively new phenomenon, charged with excitement and anxiety. To be associated with such a symbol, to have one's likeness captured beside it…it was a visual declaration of embracing the future. Notice their attire; they attempt modernity, while they hold onto the last vestiges of the old world. Does this read to you as hopeful? Editor: Hmm, I can see the hopeful angle but the grey, muted tones give me pause; that maybe these individuals don’t yet quite know how air travel will affect them, maybe they lack clarity? It strikes me as they have gathered for a staged event of some sort. Curator: Precisely, and there is an element of staged hope in the way the photograph memorialises it; memory often tints itself! Now that you consider those formal qualities alongside the symbology, how does your reading change? Editor: It’s a much more nuanced view than I first held! It’s making me rethink the layers within such seemingly straightforward historical imagery. Thank you.