Ruïne van Bervoets aan de Pannekoekstraat te Rotterdam c. 1940 - 1945

Here's a small black and white photograph of a Rotterdam street after it has been bombed by J. Nolte. Look at the stark contrast of the scene: the heavy darks of the charred wood and the bright sky, which is almost too bright. It's all about the push and pull of destruction. Maybe Nolte had to get closer, risking his own safety to capture the scene. I imagine him thinking, "How can I show the depth of this loss?" There is a lot of tension here between the flatness of the photographic image and the depth of the scene depicted. This tension makes it alive. I find myself empathizing with the artist, wondering what it was like to witness such devastation and then try to make sense of it through his work. I wonder how this connects with other artists working during times of conflict. How do they navigate such difficult subject matter?