Fietsers bij ruïnes van de Marinierskazerne aan het Oostplein te Rotterdam c. 1940 - 1945

This photograph by J. Nolte captures cyclists passing the ruins of the Marinierskazerne on Oostplein in Rotterdam. Look at that stark contrast between the everyday act of riding a bike and the devastation behind it. I can imagine Nolte wandering through the streets, framing this shot, thinking about how to capture the weight of history with the lightness of daily life. You know, it's like that feeling when you're trying to make something new out of something broken, or finding beauty in the decay. The texture of the ruined building—all those charred edges—adds such a visceral quality to the image, doesn't it? It reminds me of artists who work with collage, layering different realities on top of each other. It's like Nolte is saying, "Here's life, here's loss, and here we are, moving through it all." There’s this ongoing dialogue of image-making, each photographer or painter building upon what came before, remixing emotions and ideas, trying to make sense of it all, together.