Eugen Wachenheimer op het strand met fototoestel om zijn nek, augustus 1933, Travemünde 1933 - 1938

Curator: Welcome to this striking pair of gelatin silver prints, likely taken between 1933 and 1938, and titled "Eugen Wachenheimer op het strand met fototoestel om zijn nek, augustus 1933, Travemünde." It's from the Wachenheimer family archive. Editor: Immediately, there’s a poignant stillness about these photos. The muted tones, the solitary figure… it whispers of a particular kind of solitude, doesn't it? Like he's the only splash of permanence on a vast, windswept beach. Curator: Absolutely. The medium itself, gelatin silver print, offers a glimpse into the era's photographic practices, a period grappling with both technological advancement and political turmoil. Consider the process, the darkroom alchemy involved, each print unique and handmade. It speaks to the labour inherent in creating images, not simply capturing them. Editor: The deliberate framing, with the slightly uneven, almost playfully torn edges of the print itself adds so much to the experience, feels intimate. His camera dangling, his sturdy briefcase… it's like he's frozen, perhaps contemplating the scene, perhaps documenting it, or maybe he’s bracing himself before something. There's an unsettling ambivalence I find myself circling around, the eye is so focused to the beach, in his stance there seems like he is prepared for a walk on it and not so focused on documenting anything... it almost creates an alternative. Curator: The location, Travemünde, becomes significant considering the political climate of Germany in the 1930s. A seemingly innocuous beach scene is thus embedded within a much larger, fraught historical context, given what the Wachenheimer family would have experienced in that period. Editor: Right. The casual appearance almost lulls you in but the photograph, being a print of its time, it takes so much of that casual feel from its viewer, giving this sense that there is something going to happen, as he seems worried in each photograph. Each mark carries the weight of history. Curator: It invites reflection on photography's role, as both an art form and a means of historical documentation but this portrait captures more than just a moment on the beach. It's about preserving the ordinary amid extraordinary times, in that it also highlights the work and labor behind taking such pictures. Editor: Yes! Ultimately, it’s a ghost of a moment caught in light and chemicals and labor of art. Thank you for lending that context! Curator: And thank you for unveiling this quiet sense of urgency I might have glanced past.