Isabel Wachenheimer tijdens carnaval, in maart 1935 1935

This snapshot of Isabel Wachenheimer during carnival, was taken in March 1935. It is a small window into a moment, a caught breath of joy amidst the shadows of history. The monochromatic palette is so interesting here, and the texture is really built up in the mounting card, creating a tactile sense of depth. The torn edges of the photograph are a kind of gesture. You can almost feel the paper resisting the pull, like a half-formed thought struggling to surface. The details are in the faces of the children. Each costume is distinct. It makes me think of August Sander, who was photographing different types of people during a similar period, or the collages of Hannah Hoch. Like them, this photographer preserves a moment in time which now seems so far away, charged with a sense of what was to come. I think art is often like that, an echo of a time, calling out to us across the years.