Interieur van Villa Tritone, Sorrento

Norbert van den Berg made this snapshot of the Villa Tritone, Sorrento, sometime in the middle of the 20th century, probably with a simple camera. There’s a real casualness to the image, a snapshot of a moment in time. The colors are muted, almost faded, giving it a nostalgic, vintage feel. It's like looking at a memory through time. The composition is informal, focusing on the interior space with its classical bust, flowers, and ornately carved furniture. It seems like the picture was taken on the fly without a lot of set up. The surfaces aren't pristine; there is a big blob of something—glue? paint?—obscuring part of the view. The mark is so distracting, that I'm led to ask why the picture was kept, and what it was about the scene that was worth preserving. The imperfection makes it feel more intimate and real. It feels more like real life, less like a perfect staged photo. I'm reminded of other documentarians, like the Bechers who catalogued the industrial architecture of Europe with their simple cameras and deadpan style. Like them, Norbert seems interested in the poetics of the real.