Ruïnes rond de hoek van de Coolsingel met de Kruiskade te Rotterdam c. 1940 - 1945

This photograph by J. Nolte captures Rotterdam's Coolsingel and Kruiskade in a state of ruin. Imagine Nolte, setting up their camera amidst the rubble, framing the scene just so. You get the sense that the artist's not just recording devastation but also seeking a kind of order. The composition is neatly divided, figures on the street with buildings in the background, offering a perspective on this moment of destruction. What was Nolte thinking as they peered through the viewfinder? Did they focus on the geometry of the ruined buildings or the resilience of the people? It’s like looking at a painting where every element—the lines of the lampposts, the textures of the rubble—speaks to both loss and endurance. Think of other artists working with the aftermath of war and disaster, I'm thinking of Gerhard Richter. Photographs like this remind us that art is always in conversation with history. It’s an act of bearing witness, of grappling with what’s been lost and what might still be found.