Isabel Wachenheimer en Else Wachenheimer tijdens een bezoek aan Willy Moos in diens woning in Hamburg, Bellevue 62 1935

This photograph of Isabel and Else Wachenheimer, taken outside Willy Moos’s residence in Hamburg, is heavy with a feeling of being caught in time. The tonal range is limited. It is the kind of photograph where the details, in this case, the steps, become characters in the composition. The steps lead our eye from the bottom of the frame toward the two figures. They are sharply defined, solid, and seemingly permanent. The contrast between the organic forms of the ivy on the left and the rigidity of the architecture is striking. See how the vertical lines of the brickwork and columns seem to hold the weight of the scene. I think of Agnes Martin, whose deceptively simple grids also carry a lot of weight, but in a very different way. What interests me most about this photograph is that sense of stillness, which makes me wonder about what was happening just before and after the shot was taken, a quiet moment captured in time. This photograph serves as a poignant reminder that art is not just about what we see but about what we feel and remember.