Portret van een staande jongen met boek 1903 - 1914

This silver gelatin print of a standing boy with a book was produced by Atelier Wertheim. I like how the boy holds the book close to his chest, almost protectively, as if it holds secrets or stories he doesn’t want to share. I imagine the photographer carefully posed the boy and arranged the book to create a scene of innocence and learning. But the boy's eyes reveal a sense of self-awareness, perhaps even a touch of melancholy. Looking at this, I can almost feel the texture of the paper, the cool smoothness of the glass, the way the light would have fallen on the boy's face. Maybe the Atelier Wertheim were thinking about how to capture more than just a likeness, but also a feeling, a moment in time, or a story about the boy and his book. Isn’t it amazing how artists across different media and eras keep riffing off each other, passing ideas back and forth like a game of telephone? This piece reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, a way of making sense of the world, even when we’re not quite sure what we’re saying.