Kind sterft door landmijn Possibly 1949

This devastating photograph by John Thiessen captures a scene of unimaginable violence and loss, with monochromatic tones casting a somber shadow over the entire composition. I imagine Thiessen standing there, his hand hovering over the shutter, caught between the urge to document and the instinct to turn away. What thoughts raced through his mind as he composed this image? What drove him to capture such a scene of devastation? The photograph is a frozen moment, but Thiessen's feelings are not. The body is positioned awkwardly, unnaturally. We can feel the impact of the blast, the sheer force that has rearranged everything in its path. The surrounding debris mirrors the devastation within the body itself. Thiessen captured something profound here. His photograph is a haunting reminder of the preciousness of life and the enduring impact of violence. It sits in my mind alongside the anti-war paintings of Otto Dix and Kathe Kollwitz, artists who sought to show the horrors of war, not glorify it. It’s a shared, awful conversation that echoes across time.