Duitse militairen 1940 - 1945

This photograph of German military personnel is part of an anonymous collection in the Rijksmuseum. It’s made of two images placed on the same page, a double image of a person caught in a reflective, melancholic mood. I think of what it's like to be the person taking the photo, looking at the world, zooming in on somebody, framing them in the viewfinder, and clicking the shutter. It's a little violent, but it's also a kind of love, and definitely an act of empathy. What must it have been like for the person being photographed? How did they feel, sitting there smoking in their uniform? Were they thinking about home, family, or the absurdity of war? It's strange, how these little gestures communicate so much. They echo across time, reminding us of other moments, other people, and other pictures. There is always a deep conversation happening between artists, even when they don’t realize it, inspiring each other, responding to each other’s expressions, across centuries.