Oranjefeesten 1938

This untitled photographic collage of "Oranjefeesten", or Orange Festival, by an anonymous artist, really messes with your sense of time. The images are a blurry black and white, and the composition is a playful take on the traditional photograph album. I can't help but be drawn to the photograph of the couple in the upper right. There’s a tension between flatness and depth; the photograph itself is flat, but the subjects have an inner life of their own. What really catches my eye is the way the tree appears to be growing out of the top of their heads. It reminds me of the work of Hannah Höch, who, like this artist, was interested in exploring new ways of seeing the world. Like all good art, this piece embraces ambiguity. It invites us to slow down, to question our assumptions, and to embrace the beauty of the unknown.