Twee foto's van een boottocht in augustus 1922 1922 - 1928

Editor: So, here we have “Two Photos of a Boat Trip in August 1922,” a gelatin silver print by Hendrik Herman van den Berg. It’s interesting how these two images are presented side-by-side, capturing different groups of people and activities on what seems like the same sailing trip. What strikes you when you look at these? Curator: Ah, what strikes me... well, beyond the rather delightful snapshot of bourgeois leisure, I think it whispers something about time itself. You see those sepia tones, the slightly faded quality of the gelatin silver print? It's not just a visual choice; it's almost like the image *itself* remembers a past summer day. Hendrik wasn't simply pointing and shooting; he was trying to bottle the essence of a memory, wasn't he? Look at the way the light falls; it's almost caressing the figures, imbuing them with a sense of dreamlike beauty. What do you make of that? Editor: I do get the sense that he’s trying to capture an experience, especially since it’s more candid and snapshot-like, despite it clearly being arranged. The realism almost seems accidental. Curator: Accidental...perhaps. Or perhaps artful accident? Consider the Pictorialist movement of the time – Van den Berg clearly dabbles. They aimed for photography to be seen as fine art, so often manipulating the images to mimic paintings. Now look again at those children on the deck… aren't they just paintings sprung to life for a summer's day? Do you suppose this picture is telling us less about that actual day and more about our longing for simpler times? Editor: That's an interesting thought! I hadn't considered that the style might be creating a sort of idealized memory. I guess that makes it timeless, really. Thanks, I learned a lot! Curator: My pleasure, It seems Van den Berg has the last laugh...a photograph both firmly fixed in time and, at the same time, blissfully adrift.