Gerard Aalbersberg en Jan Kleintjes lezen onder een veranda, Hedwig Kleintjes kijkt door het raam c. 1900 - 1906

This vintage photograph by Gerard(us) Aalbersberg captures a scene of men reading under a veranda, with a woman looking through a window. The image is imbued with a sense of domesticity and leisure. What were they reading, what were they thinking? You can tell a lot about a person from what they read. It's a really intimate look at a moment in time from a bygone era. It's interesting to think of the artist’s intentions, what he was trying to communicate with this scene. It kind of reminds me of some of my work where I attempt to show the psychological space between people. The slightly desaturated quality of the print adds to the photograph's nostalgic charm, and makes it feel more like a scene from a dream than an actual photograph. Photography, like painting, is ultimately about light and shadow, the ways that objects can be illuminated to reveal new ways of seeing. And for me, it's always about how artists are constantly responding to each other across the ages, sparking new creative approaches.