Mevrouw Kessler-de Lange met twee kinderen op een brug 1904 - 1908

This is a photograph by Geldolph Adriaan Kessler, of Mevrouw Kessler-de Lange with two children on a bridge, location and date unknown. It’s a small image, a scene cast in shades of brown. I’m looking at the mother and children perched on the bridge, in the shadow of some trees. I imagine the day was sunny; the grass grows long at their feet, and the trees recede into the distance along a path. The image is split in two, for a stereoscope, an instrument that creates the illusion of a three-dimensional image. It’s interesting to think about the purpose of this picture, to create an immersive image from what must have been a commonplace scene. I wonder what it felt like to hold the photograph up to your eyes, peering into another world. Now, it’s like looking into a window, imagining the quiet of a summer day.