Else Wachenheimer-Moos zit op een bankje in de openlucht, 1930-1940, Duitsland / Stuttgart / Hamburg / Zwitserland? c. 1930 - 1940

This photograph was taken by an unknown member of the Wachenheimer family, sometime between 1930 and 1940. It shows Else Wachenheimer-Moos sitting on a park bench. Photography is often considered a documentary medium, and this image certainly has that quality. But like any other material, photographic emulsion has its own inherent qualities. The restricted palette of black and white, the soft focus, and the evident grain of the film all contribute to the image's character. Consider also the labor involved in creating this image. Someone had to operate the camera, process the film, and print the photograph. These processes, while perhaps not as immediately apparent as the brushstrokes in a painting, are no less crucial to the final result. They are also tied to the wider social and political context of the time, and the economic and social conditions of those involved. By attending to the materials and making of this photograph, we can appreciate it not just as a record of a moment in time, but as a crafted object with its own unique history and significance.