Matrozen aan boord van hun schip met een hond 1940 - 1943

Editor: Here we have an anonymous gelatin silver print from between 1940 and 1943, titled "Sailors aboard their ship with a dog," currently held at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something quite intimate and grounded in this scene despite its association with the war era. It's lovely, but there’s something mournful there. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Oh, I feel that completely. I’m drawn to the quiet normalcy amidst what must have been utter chaos for these men. It’s a snapshot, isn't it? Fleeting. Think about that dog...probably their emotional support during turbulent times. The texture of the ropes, the way the light falls – almost like a Vermeer, finding beauty in the everyday. What strikes me most is the shared vulnerability... did you notice the sailor sharing his cigarette with the dog? Editor: I did. The action is so very strange... So, is the realism a commentary on camaraderie or coping? It seems very charged and unusual for "realism". Curator: Exactly! It transcends simple realism, doesn't it? More like… lived realism. Think about the limitations of photography at the time, this wasn’t about slick magazine shots; this was about capturing truth. That shared smoke is everything, right? Trust, companionship, defiance maybe, even... defiance in the face of all that the historical moment represents. The image presents them in a "genre" scene - in their working habitat - but it reveals more about their lives as individuals, something which I find particularly attractive about the image. Editor: I agree, and I had missed that nuance of defiance amidst companionship and uncertainty until now. This definitely gave me more context and ideas about reading and understanding this particular piece. Curator: Exactly, art opens itself to us when we open ourselves to it. It responds like an enchanted forest, only revealing itself bit by bit as we traverse its depths!