Else Wachenheimer-Moos en haar broer Willy Moos met twee onbekende personen, mei 1932, Stade (Saksen) 1932 - 1935

In May 1932, the Wachenheimer family in Stade, Germany, captured this moment with Else Wachenheimer-Moos, her brother Willy Moos, and two others. It’s part of a photo album, so already speaks to a process of collecting, arranging, and remembering. The images have a lovely, grainy quality; the tones are soft and muted. Notice how the family has arranged the figures in relation to each other. In the top right frame, they seem to be linked arm in arm, strolling in unison. I love how this creates a sense of connection and shared experience. The figures have become like characters in a play. As we look, we bring our own histories and emotions to the surface. The photos offer a glimpse into a specific time and place, and it allows us to reflect on our own memories and connections. Like Gerhard Richter's use of photos as a source for his paintings, this album page speaks to the potential for images to mediate memory. It remains wonderfully ambiguous, as photographs often do.