Menigte en feestavond 1929 - 1930

These photographs of crowds and celebrations were made by an anonymous artist, though their lens and eye are anything but anonymous, don’t you think? I am immediately drawn to the way they’ve captured these lively scenes. In the upper image, a dense crowd gathers by the water's edge, a band of onlookers. I can almost feel the energy of the crowd, their anticipation palpable. And in the lower image, there's a theatrical drama playing out. I wonder, were these images captured by someone who was part of the scene, or an outsider looking in? How did they choose these perspectives? What stories did they want to tell through their composition and framing? The play of light and shadow is gorgeous. The way it creates depth and texture, it’s all so painterly. You see, artists are always in conversation with one another, across time and medium. And the most interesting conversations are the ones that are open-ended. It’s like, what does this photograph *do*? Not, what does it *mean*?