Een van de deelnemers aan de RTC: de heer S.W. van der Meer 1948

This black and white photograph shows Mr. S.W. van der Meer, one of the participants in the RTC, frozen in a moment of contemplation over some papers. I’m immediately drawn to his furrowed brow, a silent movie of thought. What's he thinking? What kind of news has landed in his lap? The curve of his hands holding the letter—it's like watching a painter mix colors, each decision a step in the process. The image reminds me how, as artists, we're all just sifting through the stuff of the world—the good news, the bad news, the mundane news—trying to make something meaningful out of it. Particam, the photographer, has captured a moment of raw human experience, where the meaning isn’t fixed but open to interpretation. It’s a bit like abstract painting: the gesture suggests emotion, but it's up to the viewer to complete the story. It reminds me that we are all, as artists, in conversation, borrowing and riffing on the ideas of those who came before. And that's the beauty of it, right? The endless possibilities, the uncertainty, the chance to create something new from something old.