Groepen en vrienden 1939 - 1943

This collection of photographs, ‘Groepen en vrienden’, of unknown date, by an anonymous artist, is made up of black and white prints and shows groups of people and friends. I am drawn to the physicality of these photographs and their presentation in a bound album. Each image is a fragment, a moment captured, but the album format provides a structure, suggesting a narrative or a personal history unfolding across its pages. The jagged edges of the photo prints are like hesitant marks, rough and uneven, which contrast with the carefully posed subjects within the frames. There’s a raw honesty in the album’s presentation. The lack of refinement allows the images to speak directly, unburdened by artifice. This reminds me of the work of artists like Nan Goldin, who embraced imperfection and used photography as a means of bearing witness to life in all its messy complexity. Ultimately, what resonates most deeply is the sense of openness and possibility that the album invites. It is like a sketchbook, inviting us to add our own stories.