Afdeling voorraadbeheer wapens, kleding en voedsel 1942 - 1943

This is an anonymous photograph of ‘Afdeling voorraadbeheer wapens, kleding en voedsel’. The composition's collage-like feel is very interesting. The artist assembles this selection of smaller images on the page and what could seem at first glance to be a record of very specific things becomes open, vague, more like the suggestion of memory. The tonal range is narrow, made up of quiet greys, and this gives the piece a kind of humbleness. The artist allows the subject matter to speak without having to amp it up through dramatic contrast or seductive color. The grain of the image is palpable, it is almost as if you can smell the chemicals used to develop the print, and imagine the darkroom it was produced in. This reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter’s ‘Atlas’, and how he uses photography as a starting point for further investigation. Ultimately, it suggests that art is less about answers and more about the questions we ask.