Isabel Wachenheimer op het balkon, 1940, Nederland 1940

This photo, Isabel Wachenheimer op het balkon, was taken by the Wachenheimer family in the Netherlands in 1940. I see Isabel on the balcony, and I imagine the photographer – perhaps her mother – asking her to look out to the horizon. It’s a staged shot, but there’s an undeniable feeling of vulnerability that comes through in the way Isabel stands, a little stiff, with her hand on the railing. The light catches her face in such a way that she looks both young and wise. I can see that she might have been thinking about her future. What does it hold? It's an exchange of trust, that's for sure. The camera capturing the soul, and then holding on to it.