Albina, borden schilderen, 27 december 1976 Possibly 1976

This photograph by Cary Markerink, taken on December 27, 1976, documents the making of protest signs. The act of painting is front and center, yet Markerink’s composition is a study in contrasts, light and dark, stillness and movement. The starkness of the image has a raw, documentary feel. It’s a photograph that privileges the act of representation; look how the act of painting is foregrounded in the photograph and the process of making the signs is clearly evident. Note the simple, unadorned letters, the way the paint is applied, perhaps quickly, economically. It’s as though we are invited to consider the immediacy and directness of protest. In some ways, I’m reminded of Martha Rosler's photomontages that combined text and image. Like Rosler, Markerink seems interested in the power of images to convey complex social messages. Like so much art, this photograph suggests that meaning isn’t fixed but rather emerges through the act of looking, questioning, and feeling.