Aan dek 1940 - 1943

Curator: "Aan dek," meaning "On Deck," a gelatin silver print likely captured between 1940 and 1943, by an anonymous photographer and held at the Rijksmuseum. It’s striking how raw and immediate it feels. Editor: There's something instantly captivating about the composition, wouldn't you agree? A portrait of everyday men—but oh, there's melancholy. Their poses seem almost forced, hinting at boredom or maybe something deeper. It definitely gives a glimpse into what the daily life on a ship may have been like. Curator: Absolutely. Considering the wartime context, we can consider the material conditions shaping its production, focusing on constraints, labor, and access. The image quality isn't crisp. And this being a gelatin silver print—a process requiring specific resources and skills—suggests that access and use of such materials, at that moment in history, holds inherent layers of social, cultural, or even political meaning, particularly regarding production, availability and accessibility to ordinary citizens, specifically in contrast to the front lines. Editor: You're making me consider things I didn’t think about at first glance! The anonymity, the grayscale starkness and unpolished presentation; all the hallmarks of a working vessel and lifestyle with bare means, if I follow your thoughts. It has a grainy honesty—almost accidental—as if the photographer was more concerned with documentation rather than artistic expression. The absence of retouching also tells a silent tale; maybe we should look at the types of materials used for work in the navy or merchant navy around that time. Curator: Precisely. Analyzing these photographic processes as material culture expands the image’s historical resonance far beyond pure representation. We see labor embedded in the photograph itself. What stories would they share, I wonder? Editor: I bet plenty. Stories of sea adventures or wartime. This image certainly brings us there. As the waves rock around us, the horizon stretches infinitely, inviting reflections and reverie... The faces of the sailors etched against that watery canvas, remind me of those endless tales... Don’t you feel the sea breeze brushing your cheek now? Curator: Well, now that you mention it! It highlights how much we can learn when approaching images by engaging in a thorough exploration of the materials employed and understanding their production. Editor: Exactly, that opens up many stories that were just hidden layers of silver and gelatin.