Oorlogsschade en neergestorte vliegtuigen, 1940 1940

This photo album page showing wartime damage and downed planes was made in 1940 by an anonymous photographer. The way the images are laid out, with those little arrows pointing between them, makes me think of how the artist might have carefully arranged the photos, considering the relationship between each scene of destruction, almost as though they were building up a narrative. I wonder what the photographer was thinking as they were documenting these scenes of devastation. What was it like to witness such destruction firsthand? The act of documenting becomes a gesture of witnessing, a way of making sense of chaos and uncertainty. It reminds me of other artists who have grappled with the theme of war and its impact on the human psyche, like Leon Golub, for instance. In this simple arrangement, the photographer is engaging in their own form of embodied expression. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be grandiose to be deeply meaningful.