Jan (45) Possibly 2015 - 2017

Curator: The artist Gerrit Meerman captured this photograph titled "Jan (45)" between 2015 and 2017. What's your initial response to it? Editor: Domesticity tinged with the light of our devices. It feels both familiar and… distant. There's a kind of comfortable disconnect at play here. Curator: Indeed. On one level, this composition draws on the rich, and often gendered, tradition of genre painting; but, through that lens, it also raises fascinating questions about the evolution of leisure, labor, and family dynamics in the digital age. Who has access to which kind of "work" and "play"? How are traditional notions of family changing when some family members look like they are involved in "invisible work," not paying attention? Editor: I see the classic setup: two people engaged in their separate screens in their living space. But there's more. My eye goes to the composition's deliberate choices—the warm glow emanating from multiple light sources seems almost symbolic. Perhaps light in its many manifestations in human culture represents various layers of "insight." I'm struck by how the scene utilizes modern technologies of comfort in an arrangement and composition with traditional overtones. The lighting fixtures, in particular, blend industrial forms with older aesthetics. Curator: I agree. Considering that the subjects seem comfortable and engrossed, and there’s even what appears to be a precarious tower made of coasters or something, the scene feels very domestic but then also fragmented. I think there's also something here about labor, in that we assume someone with glasses using a computer is busy while someone seated, using a handheld computer, must be relaxing. What labor is being represented, and why? We are missing parts of that broader picture. The very materiality of the photo reinforces this concept; photography always documents a specific time and specific subject, but the reality may be entirely different. Editor: Absolutely. And isn’t it fascinating how a seemingly simple image can speak volumes about how our daily lives have transformed? There's a deliberate stillness in the picture that invites us to fill the spaces between these individuals. Curator: Well, looking closely and considering the deeper contexts has definitely reshaped how I initially saw this photograph. Editor: For me too. Spotlighting a connection across eras adds complexity, inviting contemplation, about the things that evolve while basic human behaviors of connection persist.