Rivier de Passer, tijdens een vakantie van de familie Wachenheimer, april-mei 1936, Tirol Possibly 1936

This is a page from a photo album created by the Wachenheimer family in April-May 1936, during their vacation in Tirol. What strikes me about these photographs is the way they seem to capture not just a place, but a moment in time, a family's experience of being there. The graininess of the black and white images, the way the light and shadow play across the landscape, it all speaks to the materiality of the moment. You can almost feel the cool air coming off the Rivier de Passer as you look at the photograph, hear the sounds of the water rushing by. The handwritten labels next to the photos also add to the sense of intimacy and personal connection, as if the family is sharing their memories with you. Looking at the top left photograph, the way the trees are rendered in shades of gray, the subtle variations in tone that suggest depth and texture, makes me think of the work of Gerhard Richter, who also explored the relationship between photography and painting in his own work. But whereas Richter often sought to blur the lines between the two mediums, here, the Wachenheimer family seems to embrace the unique qualities of photography as a means of capturing and preserving their memories.