Matrozen 1941 - 1945

This album page, "Matrozen," is a collection of small gelatin silver prints, probably stuck down by the anonymous artist. It's like stumbling upon a secret archive, isn't it? I imagine the artist carefully selecting these images, each one a little portal into a moment, into a life. Look how the prints fade into the grey page. It must have taken a lot of deliberation, maybe even a little heartache, to decide on this particular arrangement. The off-kilter angles give the work a casual, intimate feel. You know, there’s something really powerful about these kinds of personal photographs. They remind me of Gerhard Richter’s “Atlas” – a collection of photographs, clippings, and sketches. Like Richter, this unknown artist transforms ordinary snapshots into something more. The process reveals that our own collections of images, held together in albums, are conversations with ourselves and with others. We are constantly exchanging ideas across time, inspiring each other’s creativity.