Gezelligheid 1941 - 1942

Editor: Here we have "Gezelligheid", made between 1941 and 1942. It’s an anonymous collection of gelatin-silver prints displayed within what looks like a photo album. It feels deeply personal. What strikes you about the presentation of these photographs? Curator: I notice the arrangement itself – the choices regarding what's included and how it's all held together in this album – as a key element. The material of the album becomes an integral part of understanding the photographs, not just as individual images but as a constructed narrative, a form of labor itself. It points us to questions about production, who made this, under what circumstances, and for what purpose. The concept of 'gezelligheid', Dutch for coziness, further suggests this was meant to preserve memory and perhaps build community. Editor: So, the physicality of the album and the arrangement is not just a neutral background? Curator: Precisely. Consider the gelatin-silver print process – a fairly standardized method. The consistent materiality across the images highlights how the chosen content, family portraits, gatherings – become emphasized. Were these acts of familial picture-taking subversive acts in some way during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands? The domestic space and community gatherings depicted within push against outside controls. What is absent or hidden? Editor: It's interesting to think of it as active resistance through the recording and preservation of these cozy moments. The medium isn't neutral, the printing and display processes all are integral to it. Curator: Yes, it is about unveiling the labor, materials and intent interwoven into creating memory and belonging, shifting focus from purely aesthetic appreciation to considering production, its materiality, and social significance during a historical context like World War II.