Else Wachenheimer-Moos en Eugen Wachenheimer in de tuin tijdens de dag van hun verloving, augustus 1922, Duitsland 1922 - 1928

This is a page from the Wachenheimer family album, two snapshots from their engagement day, August 1922, in Germany. The images are sepia toned, like memories burnished with time. The exposure is even across the surface, creating a flat field with soft gradations. On the left, we see Else and Eugen standing stiffly, formally. On the right, a solo portrait of Eugen, looking directly at the camera. It's as if the two images work as a diptych, or mirror; the way the pictures sit on the page calls to mind Jasper John's early minimalist paintings. These photographs function as a testament, an artifact of a very specific moment, with a feeling of being present at an occasion. The Wachenheimers were murdered in Auschwitz just two decades later, making these photographs a poignant memorial. They have the effect of early Christian devotional paintings, which transcend the status of art, becoming something more akin to sacred relics.