Groepsfoto met Duitse soldaten en vrouwen 1940 - 1945

Editor: This photograph, simply titled "Groepsfoto met Duitse soldaten en vrouwen," was taken sometime between 1940 and 1945. The starkness of the gelatin-silver print really makes it feel like you’re peering into a different world. It feels staged, yet also intimate, in a strange way. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Staged intimacy – I like that! It’s almost as if the camera, that silent observer, is complicit in crafting a narrative. Perhaps a fabrication, even. It begs the question, doesn't it: what stories do we tell ourselves, and what stories are imposed upon us, especially in times of conflict? The smiles, that youthful energy… they’re so incredibly juxtaposed against the backdrop of war, the looming questions. Does it remind you of anything else? Editor: Maybe like a forced smile on a difficult day? The smiles are there, but they don’t quite reach the eyes, do they? Are they trying to create a memory, or project an image? Curator: Precisely! They’re curating their own narrative, attempting to freeze a moment amidst the swirling chaos. There’s also this undeniable German Expressionist vibe; a sort of intense emotion lurking beneath the surface, the dark and light emphasizing emotional depths, the almost crude execution exacerbating that sensation. But can we really judge? Isn’t it just the act of making a mark, saying ‘I was here’? Editor: That makes me think about how many stories are lost, or deliberately erased during conflicts, and how an image like this sort of fights against that erasure, however imperfectly. I never thought about photography as a form of defiance! Curator: Or maybe surrender. Doesn't that make it even more delicious?