Portret van drie meisjes 1903 - 1940

Curator: Looking at "Portret van drie meisjes" or "Portrait of Three Girls" we see photography by Jan van Roon dated somewhere between 1903 and 1940. What’s your first take? Editor: It feels haunted, doesn’t it? Sepia tones always trigger that response in me. And those matching dresses, like echoes… a melancholic echo. It really feels like peering into a vanished world. Curator: Well, this image plays into so many archetypes surrounding childhood representation in photographic history. Note the symmetry, the composition: it feels purposefully constructed, almost ritualistic. The girls themselves stand rigidly, not a single smile between them, gazing off-camera... it recalls memento mori traditions and the way portraiture sought to immortalize the fleeting existence. Editor: Ritualistic is such a perfect description. They are all connected by an unseen power in the air that ties all of their feelings together. Did all the mothers at this time expect perfect obedience from their daughters like that? All this formality makes the photograph almost feel un-child-like. But somehow you can feel that they have a bond here. Curator: I think their clothes play into it – very interesting design and fabric that gives them the image of perfect obedience from one to the other. Each ruffle on each piece they wear creates another wave of feeling from top to bottom, an emotional reaction for the family. There are many possible connections as we consider the cultural implications behind photographic portraits of this time. How much could it tell the history behind how families wanted to share how beautiful each daughter really was to family around the country or even internationally. Editor: I never thought of those aspects but this has brought it a new light. Almost like a symbolic sharing of memories to bring the bond stronger for those near or far away from them. Thanks for the insights into this artwork's story; now my heart can be filled with warm childhood family moments. Curator: Absolutely! Thinking about photography within the framework of ritual helps us realize so much behind the intention of photography, revealing what photography aimed to invoke in cultural memory and why that persists over generations.