Wehrmacht militairen op de Afsluitdijk Possibly 1940 - 1945

This photograph, Wehrmacht soldiers on the Afsluitdijk, lives in the collection of the Rijksmuseum and was made by an anonymous artist with unknown materials. It shows us, in simple monochrome, the geometries of observation. The photo has a washed out palette, like an old memory, and it’s the texture that really tells the story. You can almost feel the grainy surface, each tiny imperfection adding to the image's weight. The lines on the ground, suggesting a road or path, feel very present, creating a sharp contrast. This small detail keeps the eye busy. The composition reminds me a little of some of those stark architectural photographs by the Bechers, that same clinical, almost detached gaze, but here, populated with people, the image feels much more loaded and unsettling. Maybe that’s just my reading, imposing my contemporary consciousness on a different time. The beauty of art is that it allows for this ongoing conversation, an ambiguity that means the work can shift and change with us.