Be so kind and write me by return, with drawing and explanation, how I can make a [photo] camera. - as I then saw at your home. (translation from the original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)

Quote of Breitner's letter to his friend H. van der Weele, 14 July 1883 or 1889; as cited by R. Bergsma, & P.H. Hefting, in George Hendrik Breitner 1857-1923, Bussum 1994, p. 21 | There are different opinions about the year Breitner started using a photo-camera; they all differ between 1883 and 1889