Portret van een jongen 1877 - 1897

Lodewijk Hendrikus Serré captured this photograph of a boy. Notice the flower pinned to the boy's jacket. Flowers, across cultures, symbolize fleeting beauty and the ephemeral nature of life. Yet, they are laden with meaning. Think of Botticelli's "Primavera," where flowers burst forth, embodying rebirth. This emblem on the boy's lapel, a symbol of transient beauty, stands in stark contrast to the enduring medium of photography. Pinned flowers have appeared throughout time in portraiture: Queen Victoria often wore floral brooches, linking the image to virtues of growth, renewal, and the cycle of life. It’s worth wondering how our subconscious, steeped in centuries of symbolism, perceives such details. Consider this: flowers have been, and continue to be, emblems of remembrance, of moments held against time. It speaks to a deep-seated desire to capture and preserve what is inherently transient, revealing our complex relationship with time and memory.