Jongen en meisje hand in hand op een tuinpad, vermoedelijk in Frankrijk 1902

This is an undated photograph by Delizy, titled 'Boy and girl holding hands on a garden path, presumably in France'. The innocence of childhood is palpable, yet the image hints at a social milieu that is far from universal. Consider the clothing: the girl's elaborate hat and dress, the boy's carefully knotted tie and wide-brimmed hat, the cultivated garden. These details point to a bourgeois setting in late 19th or early 20th century France. Photography at this time was becoming increasingly accessible, yet portraiture still largely remained within the sphere of the middle classes and aristocracy. What are we to make of the staging of this picture? Is it a simple family memento, or an attempt to project an ideal of childhood? These are the questions that we, as historians, must ask. Through careful archival research into the Delizy family, photographic practices and the social history of childhood, we can discover the complex cultural meanings embedded within this image.