Drie jongens van de Nationale Jeugdstorm Possibly 1938

This is a photo, by the Associated Press, of three boys belonging to the Nationale Jeugdstorm. I'm thinking about the person who snapped this picture. The way these boys are captured mid-stride, there's a sense of immediacy, almost like a snapshot, a quick impression. But unlike painting, photography always captures something real, that happened. I wonder about that moment: the light, the sounds, the smells of the street, and the weight of history bearing down on the scene. The way the boys clutch their flags. That gray sky probably wasn't the cheeriest, but it makes for some great light on the flags. What does it mean to take a picture that freezes time and allows us to look at this scene again and again? We now see it and feel something, and that feeling will inspire another generation of artists.