Groepsfoto 1925 - 1927

This photograph, made by an anonymous photographer, captures a group of people in what looks like a colonial setting. It's funny isn’t it, how a simple snapshot can speak volumes? I imagine the photographer arranging everyone, trying to capture a sense of unity and purpose. You can see a kind of posed formality, but there's also something vulnerable about these faces, standing together in a foreign landscape. The dog on the left of the frame really brings this photo to life. Does he know something we don’t? I think about what it must have been like to be there, the heat, the unknown, the mix of anticipation and maybe a bit of trepidation. These are all just speculative guesses of course, but they're the kinds of thing that make me tick when I look at art. Photography, like painting, is a means of storytelling. The light, the composition, the expressions, all contribute to a narrative that unfolds with each viewing. The artists are in a conversation that transcends the personal. They are in dialog with one another. They inspire one another.