The Interior as a Witness: Interwar Interiors in Flanders Captured by Forensic Files

Abstract

The common resources for studying historic homes offer staged and idealized representations of interiors which reveal little about how these spaces were inhabited and by whom. With a rather limited scope of sources available for reliable images of “real,” vernacular home environments, I advocate for the use of forensic photography and files in interior design historical research to broaden our image and understanding of such modes of living. As a case study, I examine, by close inspection and visual analysis, 40 crime cases from the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and East–Flanders, recorded between 1929 and 1937, containing interior photographs, floor plans, and judicial reports. The sample spans different social strata and building types, living circumstances, and locations—urban, suburban, and rural, demonstrating how many of the people in that era lived in old(er) houses, deprived of the newest sanitary, heating, and lighting amenities. It attests to the passing down over generations of rugs, furniture, utensils and decorative objects, and the randomness of their presence, with traces of gradual modernization, from washing machines to radios, club seats, and fashionable wallpapers. Forensic photographs offer a nonstaged representation of reality. Thus, they provide a reality check, showing how mainstream interiors were really used and how they evolved over a period of time.