Isabel Wachenheimer in de tuin van de woning van Willy Moos, Bellevue 62, Hamburg, maart-april 1935 Possibly 1935

This small black and white photograph captures Isabel Wachenheimer in the garden of Willy Moos’s house in Hamburg, sometime in March or April 1935. It’s hard to know who snapped the picture; perhaps it was a friend or family member, trying to capture a fleeting moment of normalcy. I wonder what it was like to be that photographer, framing Isabel against the backdrop of a garden, while history was unfolding just outside the edges of the frame? What were they hoping to preserve? The light is soft, almost melancholic, and the tones are muted. It’s not a painting, but the composition, the way the light falls, creates a sense of depth and emotion. The photographer, like many artists, was probably trying to freeze a moment in time, to hold onto something precious before it disappeared. It’s a quiet, unassuming image, but it speaks volumes about the power of art, in all its forms, to bear witness to the human experience.