The Train is Coming (Bingen) c. 1959

Curator: Chargesheimer's "The Train is Coming (Bingen)," currently residing in the Harvard Art Museums, captures a moment in time through a striking monochrome lens. Editor: The high-angle shot, the cobblestone street, the girl mid-stride – it’s all so dynamic, like a scene plucked from a dream. Curator: Absolutely. The flags suggest a festive atmosphere, perhaps a town celebration, but the composition injects a sense of urgency, almost unease. We are missing the reference points. Editor: Those flags, draped across the buildings, are fascinating. They feel almost like signals, not just decorative but symbolic of something bigger, maybe a turning point. Curator: The photograph was taken in postwar Germany, a period of reconstruction and redefinition. The child might represent the future, innocent yet running towards an uncertain destiny. Editor: The flags remind me of heraldry, declarations of identity and allegiance, yet here they appear almost ghostly, muted by the black and white. Curator: Chargesheimer’s work challenged the conventional aesthetics of his time. He turned to photography to explore the transformation of society. Editor: It really makes you wonder what story lies just beyond the frame, what future awaits the girl and the society around her.