Groepsportret van de familie Piek, v.l.n.r. Carel Overhof, Gesiena Piek, Louise Maria Fellinger, Hendrik Asser, Stephan Piek met onbekend kind, Carl Alexander Piek, Lucia Ottilia Piek, Cato Piek, Johanna Piek en Lucia Piek-Jolles 1891 - 1893

Willem Frederik Piek Sr. made this group portrait of the Piek family using photography, a relatively new medium during his lifetime. It's an intimate glimpse into a bourgeois family in the Netherlands during the late 19th century. The photograph captures a rigid social structure, visible in the formal attire and posed nature of the subjects. The women are adorned in dresses that symbolize domesticity and modesty, while the men wear suits that signify their roles as providers and heads of the household. The children, mostly confined to the laps of adults, represent the family’s future. Family portraits like this were often used to solidify social standing and convey an image of respectability. Yet, beyond this constructed image, we might wonder about the individual stories of each family member. Perhaps there were tensions, dreams, or hidden desires that the camera couldn't capture. What does it mean to be preserved in this manner, to have one’s identity framed by social expectations and familial roles? This photograph, while seemingly straightforward, invites us to contemplate the complexities of identity, representation, and lived experience within a specific historical context.