Fotoalbum met vakantiefoto's en andere foto's uit de privé-sfeer van de familie Wachenheimer, genomen tussen maart 1931 en augustus 1932 Possibly 1931 - 1933

Curator: This is a photograph of a family photo album, titled "Fotoalbum met vakantiefoto's en andere foto's uit de privésfeer van de familie Wachenheimer, genomen tussen maart 1931 en augustus 1932.” The dating of the piece is believed to be between 1931 and 1933. Editor: Immediately, the cover's minimalist design strikes me. Those mauve, intersecting bars against the aged paper... It's a somber palette. I wonder if that suggests something about the family's experience. Curator: It is fascinating how humble, homemade materials have been used here: paper, coloured pencil, collage... The "homemade paper" and "folded paper" tags point towards limited resources. We see these photographs held within these covers as an attempt to create tangible memories and maintain some control over narrative amid uncertain times. Editor: The use of modernist aesthetics interests me—clean lines attempting to organize personal narratives. Was this family attempting to structure and make sense of rapidly changing times? Those purple bars create a visual architecture—support, but also perhaps, confinement. Is this a shield against chaos, or are these simply decorative, bearing witness to times past? Curator: Or perhaps it's more straightforwardly a matter of utility. The materials speak volumes; it's all about functionality first. This album provided the raw materials needed to build connections: scissors to divide and unify images into groups. The cord attaching cover to photos and recollections suggests an assemblage made with what was readily available. The family needed simply one thing in that moment--an instrument made to preserve and remember family. Editor: I agree—materials offer functionality. That little string implies connection. Yet the formality of the cover suggests a desire for ordered meaning within intimate mementos. It is far more constructed than accidental. The texture, what little we see in photographs bound within: is that not family mythology preserved through material memory? Curator: Thinking about the time this was made--1931 to 1933, materials such as coloured pencils were employed with great intent. Paper texture, sketchbook design all hint that nothing was wasted. Everyday moments turned into crafted acts. Editor: Ultimately, we’re left pondering a tangible object imbued with absence—a family's joys, losses, carefully curated, veiled in faded mauve tones. Curator: Agreed. A testament to making and remembering in difficult times.