Groepsportret 1900 - 1930

This photograph, "Groepsportret," was captured by the Nederlandsch fotopersbureau. It looks like a school photo, maybe even a sports team! And who took it? A collective— a photographic press bureau. Imagine a group of people working together to create a single image; their collective vision. I wonder if they argued over the composition. Did they take turns looking through the viewfinder? Looking at it now, it feels like a painting— the muted tones, the way the figures blend into the background. And the formality of the subjects, all lined up, feels like an old master painting. What's lovely is the feeling of something slightly lost, a moment captured and now fading into the past. As artists, we are always in conversation with what has come before. And as viewers, we bring our own experiences and memories to the work.