Portret van Wilhelmina en Dootje van Zijll de Jong en hun moeder Henriëtte Wassink 1934 - 1935

This black and white photograph portrays Wilhelmina and Dootje van Zijll de Jong, alongside their mother, Henriëtte Wassink; all captured through the simple act of pressing a button on a camera. Look at the way the edges of the image are serrated, like the teeth of a saw. The photographer took time to frame the picture, leaving this deliberately rough border. There is no attempt to obscure the process or suggest anything other than that this is a material object. It makes me think of Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series, the way those paintings are constructed in blocks of colour, held together by a bold, dark line. There’s no attempt at perfect symmetry here, the women are not evenly spaced. For me, this roughness gives the photograph an incredible sense of intimacy. It feels like the record of a moment, a memory to be treasured.