Kinderen 1900 - 1922

Editor: This is a photograph called "Kinderen," taken sometime between 1900 and 1922. The photographer is Robert Julius Boers, and it's now at the Rijksmuseum. It's a touching shot of a group of children, all dressed in white, and they're sitting or standing outside amongst tropical foliage. It’s incredibly sweet, but something about the faded tones makes it feel…distant, you know? What jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: It feels almost dreamlike, doesn’t it? The sepia tones lend it this wonderful sense of nostalgia. When I look at this image, I see more than just a simple genre scene. These are probably colonial children in the Dutch East Indies – their stiff poses reveal an entirely different cultural background, at once carefully controlled and utterly natural. Can you feel that contrast? Editor: I see what you mean. They look well-behaved, not playful or candid. But what’s the deal with the double image? Is this some kind of printing error? Curator: No, my clever friend! This is most likely a stereograph, a popular form of photography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When viewed through a stereoscope, two nearly identical images merge, creating a 3D effect. Imagine, these children, frozen in time, suddenly gaining depth and dimension before your very eyes. Editor: Wow, I never considered that. That makes it even more engaging somehow. I guess I saw a static image, and you helped me see something that was meant to feel dynamic. Curator: Exactly! And that’s why art history, or photography history for that matter, can be so rewarding! We breathe new life into these historical glimpses, reawakening what they felt to their original audience. Editor: It's like suddenly you’re transported and you’re not just looking, you're *there*. I’ll definitely be looking at old photos differently now.