Gezelschap op een scheepsdek op de Indische Oceaan en gezichten op Huis Vlaanderen in Baarn 1912

Curator: Oh, this page just exudes quietude. It’s a melancholic feeling washes over me, looking at these faded snapshots, these little portals into someone’s past. Editor: We’re looking at a gelatin silver print from 1912, a photography album page that includes views titled "Gezelschap op een scheepsdek op de Indische Oceaan en gezichten op Huis Vlaanderen in Baarn,” all carefully documented by Carolina (Loentje) Frederika Onnen. It shows three distinct images: a group portrait on a ship's deck, and two exterior shots of Huis Vlaanderen in Baarn. Curator: Yes, the juxtaposition is fascinating! We’re taken from the vastness of the Indian Ocean to these rather composed, perhaps even sterile, scenes of a building and its grounds. Is that a fountain? There’s a strange tension. Editor: The contrast certainly creates an interesting dialogue. Structurally, the grid of the page, containing each scene, gives a sense of order and categorization, typical of albums of the time. The silver gelatin process offers subtle gradations of tone. Curator: Oh, I can almost smell the sea air on that ship's deck and feel the crisp autumn air in Baarn. To sail across the ocean and then be greeted by these symmetrical gardens, the structured facade of Huis Vlaanderen... what an existence! Almost like she is presenting different possible realities or places for being. Editor: I'm most drawn to the tonal range of that seascape; the gradations between water and sky suggest a horizon that flattens pictorial depth. Then the architectural structure presents a more classical vanishing point. The framing seems deliberately constructed, even with the soft focus. Curator: Maybe this Loentje was wrestling with a desire to escape. Maybe she had a conflicted desire to control her world and wander into the unknown. Editor: Or, from a purely visual standpoint, maybe she found pleasure in playing with the formal possibilities of photographic composition. Curator: (chuckles) Well, sometimes, it's nice to think of her, looking at those scenes and wanting to be at peace either out at sea or safe in her own manicured garden. Editor: Indeed. The photograph certainly holds the tension between observation and experience.