Gezicht op het strand van Scheveningen 1896 - 1910

Editor: Here we have a gelatin silver print, “Gezicht op het strand van Scheveningen,” dating from sometime between 1896 and 1910, attributed to E. Mertens & Cie. It's quite striking, almost unsettling. The monochrome and stark composition, rows of tents disappearing into a crowd... How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, immediately, it speaks to a very specific historical moment, the rise of leisure culture, particularly for the middle classes. Scheveningen was, and still is, a popular seaside resort in the Netherlands. This image captures its burgeoning popularity, but not without a certain… regimentation, would you agree? Editor: Regimentation? Curator: Consider the composition: rows of tents, tightly packed crowds… It's a planned spectacle. Tourism becoming organized. What's interesting is how photography, like this pictorialist approach, played a crucial role. These images not only recorded the event, but they also constructed and sold an image of idyllic seaside experience. Editor: So, the photographer wasn't just capturing a scene, but helping to create this image of the beach experience itself? Curator: Precisely! Think about the target audience. Who could afford these vacations and consume such imagery? The aspiring middle class. These photographs were instruments in shaping aspirations, selling a dream of bourgeois comfort and recreation. The photo object is sold to promote leisure culture, shaping that experience even today. Does that make sense? Editor: Definitely. I hadn't considered the photograph itself as an active agent in the history of leisure. Thanks, that’s a fresh way of understanding photography's cultural role! Curator: Absolutely! It is also how such photographs contribute to marketing. The photograph helped in actively cultivating new traditions around sea bathing, tourism and holiday culture in general.