Seyss Inquart inspecteert het Totenkopf Bataljon Possibly 1940 - 1946

This photo by Polygoon shows Seyss Inquart inspecting the Totenkopf Battalion. I look at this image and try to imagine what Polygoon was thinking. What was his creative process? What did he leave out and what did he put in? The geometry is very rigid; there are many lines in parallel. The pavement, the buildings, and the soldiers are all laid out in a grid. All the soldiers are arranged in straight lines, giving a sense of order. I'm drawn to the way the composition of the shot creates a sort of…tension. The photograph implies that everything is aligned and working in tandem, but the off-kilter angle suggests that something is amiss. In a painting, I might try to express the same idea using contrasting colors or by juxtaposing different textures. Ultimately, all artists are in dialogue with each other, whether they know it or not. We are all part of a lineage, building upon what has come before.