Portret van een zittende baby en een staand meisje 1895 - 1918

This small photograph of a baby and a young girl was made by Lambertus van der Feer sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. The monochromatic tones are soft, almost dreamlike, giving the image a timeless quality. It is reminiscent of a memory fading at the edges. The texture of the girl’s dress, the way the light catches the fabric, is particularly striking. You can almost feel the starched cotton. The surface is smooth, but with subtle variations in tone that suggest the delicate, almost fragile nature of the medium. Look at the way the children are positioned. Their serious expressions convey a sense of formality, of a moment captured in time. Van der Feer, I wonder if he was influenced by earlier portrait painters? There’s something reminiscent of the way those artists captured the essence of their subjects. Ultimately, this photograph is a reminder of the power of art to evoke emotion, to transport us to another time and place.