Mulackstrasse 32: Slide Projections of Former Jewish Residents and Hebrew Reading Room, 1932, Berlin 1992

Shimon Attie made this photograph, “Mulackstrasse 32,” in Berlin, using slide projections. The artist’s process involved researching the history of Jewish residents and their Hebrew reading room in 1932 and projecting these images onto the buildings they once inhabited. The image is particularly striking due to its layering of different moments in time. Attie documented the effects of his projections on the existing architecture using photographic film. Note the contrast between the spectral quality of the projected images and the gritty, material reality of the Berlin street. Attie’s work reminds us that photography is not simply a medium for capturing reality, but also one for conjuring memory and addressing erasure. The means of production – slide projection and photography – are crucial to the work's conceptual impact. Attie blurs boundaries, asking us to consider photography as both a documentary practice and a form of installation art.