Timmerwerkplaats op de Prinses Juliana School 1933

This photo, Timmerwerkplaats op de Prinses Juliana School, shows a group of youngsters working with wood, perhaps during a class, at the Princess Juliana School. I like to imagine the artist who took this photo being fascinated by the way the kids are bent over their work. The artist must have thought a lot about the relationship between the kids and their craft because that's what the photo emphasizes. Notice how the high windows fill the room with light, which gives the image a soft and gentle quality, but also brings out the contrast between dark and light tones. The kids' faces aren't clear, so we can't tell what they're thinking. The artist is not visible in the image. You only see the students hard at work. Maybe this photograph is a reflection on the state of the world or the state of the craft. Ultimately, this image reminds us that all artists are, in a way, always talking to each other across time and space.