Isabel Wachenheimer in de dierentuin tijdens Pinksteren, mei 1931, München 1931 - 1935

Editor: This is a page from a Wachenheimer family photo album. These gelatin silver prints from around 1931 to 1935, show scenes from the Munich zoo. Isabel Wachenheimer features in the largest photo of the set, feeding some animals, flanked by an adult and a child. The pictures around the portrait mostly feature naturalistic imagery - the river, a bridge, and various animals. What do you make of this juxtaposition? Curator: The layout here is quite compelling. Consider how this arrangement functions as its own visual language. Zoos were places of wonder, spaces where humanity interacted with the exotic. Note the prominence given to the scene of direct human-animal interaction; what does it tell us about what was deemed important for remembrance, perhaps the symbolic mastery over the natural world, the ideal of harmonious interaction? Editor: That’s an interesting angle. I was thinking about the contrast – between the 'wild' and controlled environments. Does this contrast play a larger part in interpreting the whole set of imagery as it is? Curator: Indeed! Look closer. Observe the repetition of landscape images interspersed with these interactions. Do the landscapes function as idyllic memories contrasted to the staged, almost performative nature of the zoo encounters? Consider the composition and framing within each image; note the lines, and try to notice which emotional effect dominates and think about their meaning and message from then to now. How do those relationships alter our reading of this personal archive? Editor: I never really thought about family photos this way, considering that someone organized the photos like a puzzle to remember the overall experience and make some sort of personal statement about themselves in time. Curator: Exactly! By seeing a photo album like this, as a sequence of constructed memories, rather than isolated snapshots of one vacation trip, it allows us to look at what the images convey, both intentionally and unconsciously. Hopefully it’ll bring you greater understanding about cultural memory and continuity too!