Rotterdam nach dem deutschen Bombardement! 1940 - 1946

This photo album page, documenting Rotterdam after the German bombardment, is a powerful reminder of artmaking as a process of bearing witness. The anonymous photographer, likely using a simple camera, captures scenes of devastation in stark black and white. What strikes me is the rawness of the images, each a small window into a landscape of ruin. The grainy texture and the limited tonal range create a sense of immediacy. It feels like a snapshot of a moment that resists easy interpretation. Look at the bottom left photograph, the pile of debris dominating the foreground. The way the light catches the jagged edges of the rubble reminds me of the work of Gerhard Richter. Like Richter's blurry paintings from photographs, there’s a deliberate blurring of detail. Both ask us to confront the complexities of memory, trauma, and the elusive nature of truth. In the end, it's a photograph of a city, yet also a portrait of a world turned upside down.