Portret van een onbekende baby op een stoel 1890 - 1918

This photograph of an unknown baby on a chair was taken by J. Siewers & Zoon. The baby is perched on a rather grand chair, the kind you might find in a stately home. I imagine the photographer carefully arranging the scene, adjusting the backdrop, and waiting for the perfect moment to capture the baby's likeness. There's a certain formality to the pose, the baby holding a little something in their hands, a blank expression. What was it like for the baby? Were they comfortable, curious, or perhaps a little bewildered by all the attention? You know, I can feel what it's like to be posed, to not know how to be, how to act. Photographs, like paintings, capture a moment in time, freezing it for eternity, and offer us a glimpse into the past. We’re always in conversation with the past when we make art.