Vader en moeder 1940 - 1943

This is a page from an anonymous photo album, Vader en moeder, in the Rijksmuseum. The gray scale of these images gives them a certain feeling. Each image is a moment, a pause, but the series together make a little story. I find myself drawn to the first image, where the parents are seated at a table, perhaps about to play cards. They are in what appears to be a sunroom, with light coming from all angles. But it is not the light of summer; the gray scale of the images tell us it is winter, or perhaps a very gray day. Photography has always been, at its heart, about freezing time; giving people the chance to pause and consider a moment passed. This set of images together does that, but it also tells us a story, a visual narrative. A similar effect can be found in the work of Gerhard Richter; his approach to image making opens up a space of imagination around the artwork.