Zeilschepen in het Noordhollandsch Kanaal 1904

Editor: This is a photograph from 1904 entitled “Zeilschepen in het Noordhollandsch Kanaal,” so, Sailing Ships in the North Holland Canal. It feels quiet and still to me; like a peaceful Sunday morning. What stands out to you in this photograph? Curator: It feels to me as though time has been frozen – it's sepia-toned memory. I see not just boats, but echoes of the Dutch Golden Age, when water was life, a highway, a livelihood. See how the photographer uses the stillness of the canal to mirror the boats? What do you think the reflections add? Editor: I suppose it doubles everything. It makes it feel like we are really there, like it isn't just the ships and water, but atmosphere too. Do you think the photographer was trying to invoke the Golden Age deliberately? Curator: Perhaps, or maybe it’s that history simply permeates the landscape. There’s a direct lineage here, you know? What seems modern – the very act of taking a photograph – is also intrinsically linked to centuries of Dutch maritime tradition. A gorgeous contrast. It makes me think about my grandfather’s stories of the sea, truth or lies, I'll never know. What feeling does it conjure in you? Editor: Melancholy, but also a kind of enduring beauty. I'll look at historical photography differently from now on. Curator: Indeed. I now know why I connect to water-colour paintings more than to any other painting-type. Funny.