Wilhelmina van Zijll de Jong met twee vrouwen en een meisje in een tuin 1933

This photograph, "Wilhelmina van Zijll de Jong met twee vrouwen en een meisje in een tuin," was created by an anonymous artist using photography. The composition is very direct, very frontal, and yet there's this soft gradation in tone. You can almost feel the light hitting their faces, how it defines the space. The texture of the dresses they are wearing is very much a product of light and shade - but it gives you a very palpable sense of the material. Look how the figures are arranged, holding hands to create a sense of intimacy and connection. It is as if this gesture is a key element of the composition, drawing our eyes directly into the very heart of the image. The way in which this photograph captures the textures and surfaces of the clothing, the faces, gives the image a deeply resonant emotional charge. The way the artist has created this world feels very close to the work of other anonymous photographers in the field of family portraiture and the art of casual observation. There’s always more than one way of seeing things, and that’s what makes art so interesting, right?