Twee mensen poseren bij een brug over het water bij Landgoed De Paauw c. 1913

Curator: Looking at this landscape image, what grabs you first? Editor: Immediately, the mood—that kind of wistful stillness. The blurred, dreamlike quality. I find it quite mesmerizing. Curator: This photograph, "Two people posing by a bridge over the water at Landgoed De Paauw," comes to us from around 1913, the work of Geldolph Adriaan Kessler. Editor: Kessler…I sense something almost staged about the photograph. Two figures seem caught between being inside and outside the scene itself. Who are they and where are they heading? It reminds me of when portraiture mimicked painting traditions and pictorial drama became paramount. Curator: Pictorialism certainly played a role. The landscape almost overwhelms the human presence, yet they are precisely placed to create a sense of depth and invite contemplation, almost as in theatrical tableau. Kessler uses nature not just as background, but a character in its own right. The mirroring on the water echoes, literally and figuratively, themes of duality and reflection. Editor: Symbols lurk. A bridge representing transition, water hinting at subconscious depths…these two, eternally caught in early twentieth-century amber, perhaps suggest humanity in dialogue with itself. Curator: Absolutely! You can sense that tension of modernity emerging. And let's be honest, doesn’t it all look rather romanticized to us now? This soft focus blurs out harsh realities to create an ethereal world where things appear peaceful even on the cusp of vast societal shifts and world war. Editor: Yes, a carefully constructed serenity masking so much complexity beneath. Curator: All these hidden depths... So interesting how Kessler pulls together formal elements and atmosphere here. Editor: Agreed. He invites you to linger, to dream—maybe to reflect on the bridges we cross ourselves.