Militair achter een bureau met typmachine 1941 - 1945

This small black and white photograph at the Rijksmuseum shows a soldier at a desk with a typewriter. I want to know what this photographer was thinking. Was he thinking about how his fellow soldier was doing? Look at him, sitting there, probably thinking about getting out of there! I wonder if the photographer chose this perspective, with the desk as a kind of stage, to emphasize this feeling of anticipation. The textures of the documents are so varied! I can imagine the quiet clatter of the typewriter and the rustle of papers as the soldier goes about his work, his pipe giving him comfort. And it’s cool to think that, like other artists, this photographer might have been influenced by earlier artists, even if he wasn't aware of it. What kind of image was he hoping to create? Whatever it was, here we are looking at it. It stands as a testament to the ongoing dialogue between artists across time.