De nieuwe tolbrug over het kanaal Rijn-Schie en het Huijs te Burghvliet 1892 - 1893

Editor: So, here we have "De nieuwe tolbrug over het kanaal Rijn-Schie en het Huijs te Burghvliet", which translates to "The new toll bridge over the Rijn-Schie canal and the Huijs te Burghvliet" a photographic print from around 1892, snapped by Henri de Louw. It's incredibly serene but also very... muted. Almost dreamlike in a way. I wonder what it tells us. What do you see when you look at this photograph? Curator: Dreamlike, yes! A sort of melancholic beauty hangs over it, doesn’t it? Think about this time period, the late 19th century: photography is still quite new, but it’s rapidly changing how people see themselves and their world. De Louw isn't just documenting a bridge and a building. He's capturing a specific *moment* in time, the shift of a landscape and perhaps even Dutch society. Do you notice how still everyone is, like they’re holding their breath for the exposure? The quiet energy it gives the image is rather amazing to me. The figures are all at angles or leaning, which somehow doesn’t let the eye stop looking. Editor: Absolutely! I can almost feel the stillness. And I like that idea of him capturing a "moment." How would a painter show all the small details of reality like he did here? But I think what grabs me most is that toll bridge – who and what crossed that bridge in 1892? I hadn't considered that perspective until now. Curator: Right? Just try to imagine all of the stories that this old image is carrying around with it! It makes one reflect, what story would our picture tell the future.