Fotoalbum van de Nederlandse familie Van Braam met 155 foto's 1860 - 1900

Curator: What catches my eye immediately is this photo album belonging to the Dutch family Van Braam. It contains 155 photographs created between 1860 and 1900. Editor: There’s something undeniably warm and nostalgic about it, even just at first glance. The tones of the leather, the ornate detail, there’s a strong sense of intimacy and legacy that permeates the object itself, even before we consider its contents. Curator: Indeed, the embossed leaf motif set within the oval hints at several things, but, above all, to growth, family trees, the slow passage of seasons... the cyclical nature of life. What do you think of that detail? Editor: I think you're absolutely right, and it begs a few important questions about what's been selectively included or even deliberately left out from that cyclical notion of the "natural." Family portraiture of this era wasn't a neutral activity, was it? Access to such portraits would’ve largely been a privilege of the bourgeoisie, reflecting the ways in which power solidified their own lineages. Curator: Absolutely, it wasn't a universally shared practice. But isn't the simple fact of compiling and preserving such memories across generations a ritual, in itself? Family becomes something of a cult. These are chosen images presented to preserve a certain family identity over decades. Editor: And who chooses those images, who gets to author and curate family identity? Considering how the majority of archival and family portraits typically prioritize whiteness and heteronormativity, what can we speculate here about which aspects of this particular family were celebrated versus possibly erased, excluded, or rendered invisible? Curator: A pertinent point, no doubt, about the implicit biases that weave into this form of representation. These aren't raw, unedited documents; rather, the collection constitutes a narrative. They're also fascinating relics from a time when photography held an almost magical aura, able to halt time. Editor: I would certainly agree. And the act of collecting these relics as heirlooms, that makes the album even more compelling—this isn’t just a private artifact but a deliberate handing down of value that likely informed, in many ways, this Dutch family’s values from generation to generation. Curator: The silent echoes of a lineage captured within crafted leaves and preserved under lock and key. It really makes you wonder about who decides which leaves live on.