Isabel Wachenheimer en haar neef Klaus Zürndorfer bij de ingang van de woning van de familie Wachenheimer in Stuttgart, augustus 1934 1934 - 1938

Curator: This is a gelatin-silver print, likely created between 1934 and 1938, showing Isabel Wachenheimer and her nephew, Klaus Zürndorfer, at the entrance of the Wachenheimer family home in Stuttgart. Editor: It's a strikingly composed image, despite the casual air of a snapshot. The gray scale gives it a certain formality, even austerity. The light seems very flat. It’s a somber piece, really. Curator: Notice how the photographer has placed them? The young girl slightly ahead of her uncle, almost stepping into an unknown future, while his hand rests gently, protectively, on her shoulder. I find that rather moving. The family home provides the visual frame and background, establishing a tangible grounding for the pair. Editor: The figures certainly dominate, don't they? And what are we to make of their attire? Her light dress contrasting with his tweed suit speaks to their very different ages and perhaps suggests their distinct roles in the family. In that time the semiotics of the material weighed a great deal! Curator: Absolutely. Consider, too, what the front entrance signifies symbolically. Thresholds represent passage and change, especially poignant given the era. The garden just behind them is a protected place, a space where their existence plays out and finds protection. I think this speaks to ideas about domestic safety and anxieties surrounding the Nazi threat, with families making hard decisions as the turmoil grew in 1930's Germany. Editor: Right. The photograph also offers an opportunity to view the interplay of historical fashion. But as a formal element, it's so curious how the neutral tones really compress the pictorial space and bring forward the sitters. The photographer is certainly concerned about tonal arrangement across the picture. Curator: This photograph stands as a potent record of familial bond at a particular crossroads in history. The subjects appear constrained but also seem to display tremendous inner resolve. Editor: I would concur. This small window onto a moment in time manages to offer so much, both through the starkness of the visual data itself but also the echoes of events from almost a century ago.