Palopo Juni 1946 1946

This photograph, Palopo Juni 1946, comes from an anonymous source. It's a simple black and white image pasted into an album, the handwriting above designating its place. The act of pasting, mounting, or framing—it’s all composition, you know? It's a decision about how to present something, to give it a context, a border, a meaning. I wonder what this anonymous person was thinking when they placed it on the dark grey page? Why here, and not there? Were they arranging images based on date, or were they trying to evoke a feeling? The photograph itself depicts three people. Who are they to each other? What is their story? Perhaps the photographer wanted to remember a specific moment in time, to freeze it and hold onto it. But time slips away regardless. And here we are, years later, trying to imagine ourselves into their world. Isn't that what painting, what all art does? It opens a doorway.