Photographs from the Estate of Isabel Wachenheimer 1931 - 1937

This sheet of twelve black and white photographs comes from the Estate of Isabel Wachenheimer, its maker is unknown. The subject matter is clearly a young girl, maybe around seven or eight years old, captured in various poses. What strikes me about this photographic contact sheet is how it flattens time and emotion into a grid. Each image is a small window onto a fleeting expression – a smile, a glance, a moment of quiet contemplation. Look at the bottom left image where she is looking down with her head tilted. Is she shy, sad, or just bored of having her picture taken? The anonymous photographer seems to be influenced by the serial portraiture of someone like August Sander, who tried to document types within German society. Here though, the focus is on a singular subject, made universal by the passage of time and the loss of its maker. The work reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation about how we see and remember each other.