Isabel Wachenheimer als baby op een commode 1929 - 1932

This anonymous photograph shows Isabel Wachenheimer as a baby on a changing table. It's a sweet, tender moment captured in what seems like a flash. The greyscale palette is very simple, almost crude, which really emphasizes the textures of the image. Look at the horizontal lines of the wallpaper and how they contrast with the smooth surface of the changing table. The light catches on the baby’s dark hair and creates a halo around her face, drawing your eye to her cheeky grin. I'm intrigued by the way the photographer used light and shadow. It’s as if they're playing with the surface, making it more tactile and dimensional. The lack of sharp focus lends the photograph an intimate quality, blurring the lines between reality and memory. It reminds me a bit of the blurry, slightly out-of-focus quality of some of Gerhard Richter’s paintings, where the process of looking becomes more important than what you're actually seeing. Ultimately, it's the kind of image that feels deeply personal but also universally relatable.