Manschappen 1940 - 1941

Curator: This is an albumen print from an anonymous photographer, created between 1940 and 1941. It's part of a larger collection, carrying the title "Manschappen," which translates roughly to "Troops" or "Personnel." Editor: It’s the visual equivalent of eavesdropping, isn't it? The grey paper it's printed on feels almost institutional. Curator: Indeed, its monochrome palette lends the series a solemn tone, which is further echoed in the almost documentary style. What draws my attention is the grouping of the images: snapshot moments meticulously pasted within this album, suggesting an internal narrative being built. The act of placing them together endows each image with a deeper symbolic meaning, connecting individual men with shared moments under what were most likely trying conditions. Editor: What interests me is the creation of the album itself: a material, manual labor of love in a brutal situation. How the anonymous creator carefully cut and placed these images in their precise locations tells me that the photographic prints were not as easily disposable as we believe photographs today to be. The annotation in German gives a bit more insight into this, as well. Curator: That inscription, you mean? "Schnappschuss nach einem Abschuhs!" hints at stolen moments after training – snapshots of men trying to create a bit of normalcy in, presumably, war time conditions. I think what’s so captivating is the implied context. It gives insight into the lives of men caught in the machinations of larger political forces and brings forward something visceral from what may be presumed to be objective documentation of war. Editor: To me it brings up the relationship between photojournalism and fine art and the conditions and class assumptions of viewing something like that. The image and even the book are made as easily accessible material to the people inside the photographs. It is a document made and distributed within a tight social circle, rather than aimed at outsiders looking in and consuming the narrative through media. Curator: The interplay between immediacy and a timeless quality of ritual and memory, captured so expertly through the anonymous hands, is profoundly haunting, isn't it? It speaks volumes of continuity. Editor: It makes one think about how our digital photographs will stand up as such intimate memories.