The young and the old 2016

Curator: Ah, "The Young and the Old," a stark monochrome photograph taken by Alfred Freddy Krupa in 2016. Look up, way up... Editor: Wow. So much sky. I feel almost...empty looking at it. Is that intentional, this kind of isolating vastness? Like being a tiny speck. Curator: Possibly! Krupa, you see, often explores the relationship between humanity and the immensity of the natural world. What appears minimalist actually speaks volumes about perspective, about where we locate ourselves in space and time. The materials, simply light and photographic paper, are rather inconsequential. Editor: Okay, I see what you mean. Because it's not really about the materials at all. It's about that contrast...that small airplane in the lower left barely making way and this much larger aircraft trail on the upper right, seemingly headed directly out of the frame. Almost feels existential, right? That our time on earth will simply disappear. Curator: Exactly! It plays into that universal human consideration: what trace are we going to leave behind us? Also consider the time. One small prop plane and a jet liner and condensation trail. History as the artist finds it in a particular instance. Editor: Makes you think about progress too, doesn’t it? Is bigger, faster, and cleaner more or less worthy? Curator: Which circles back to what kind of impact, not just *what* impact, that our brief existences make upon Earth. Perhaps Krupa subtly directs us towards acknowledging both the wonder and the responsibility that come with existing in such a landscape. The title hints that the photographer also thought about generations to come. Editor: It's deceptively simple, then. A stark, black-and-white image containing whole worlds within it. What first felt empty now reverberates with quiet meaning. Curator: I concur. There’s a peculiar and sublime feeling within this single captured moment, one that Krupa cleverly reveals, allowing us all to see, reflect, and possibly be humbled by our places among both our ancestors and successors.