Isabel Wachenheimer in kamerjas staand voor de toegang tot een openlucht ziekenhuiskamer in het Joods sanatorium Etania met een onbekende vrouw in Davos, april 1946 1946

Editor: This is a photograph titled "Isabel Wachenheimer in kamerjas staand voor de toegang tot een openlucht ziekenhuiskamer in het Joods sanatorium Etania met een onbekende vrouw in Davos, april 1946." It's a monochrome image and immediately strikes me as stark and quite intimate, due to its subject matter, yet distant. What aspects stand out to you, considering its formal qualities? Curator: Initially, my attention is drawn to the formal arrangement of the figures. The placement and interaction between the subjects is interesting; both women are set against the receding planes of the hospital’s architecture. Observe how the lighter tones of the woman on the left are set against the lighter values of the facade and exterior wall. The artist masterfully draws the eye using contrasting elements. Do you see how the lines create an implicit narrative within the composition? Editor: I see what you mean about the contrast and narrative implications. What is it about the lines you speak of? Curator: Notice how vertical lines, such as architectural support beams, dominate the piece, setting an angular geometric theme and tonality. How might the lines contrast or compare, say, with a romanticist painter like Turner or Delacroix, for example? Do these choices speak to its structural and spatial design? Editor: Interesting observation. I am gaining a new appreciation for how the architecture intersects with, almost speaks to, the presentation of the subjects. And now that you point it out, the linearity lends itself to feelings of longing in this moment captured on film. Curator: Indeed, the visual grammar constructs an emotional experience, wouldn't you agree? Thank you for a very thoughtful and informative look at these photographs.