Duitse militairen en familie 1941 - 1942

This album page, "Duitse militairen en familie," is a found object in the Rijksmuseum, a document of the past. Anonymous photographs pasted onto the grey paper are an amazing constellation of memories. I imagine the person who put this album together, carefully peeling and sticking these photographs onto the page. What was it like to live in that time and place? Did they take these images themselves, or did they collect them from other people? I wonder if they knew that these images would become historical documents for others to look at? The compositions are so simple, and the printing is also modest. The images have a soft, grainy quality to them, which only adds to their mystery. This is not high art, but it communicates something very real, which will inspire other artists and photographers.