Jeugdstorm tijdens een spel Possibly 1934 - 1935

This small photograph, made by the NSB, shows the ‘Jeugdstorm tijdens een spel’, or Youth Storm playing a game. The grey tones give it a kind of sombre mood, like an old movie, and the composition makes you wonder what’s going on, as the subject is cropped. The picture is small and grainy. It has a sense of movement, but is also still, the lack of clarity makes the image feel far away in time. In a way, the medium here – photography – is part of the message, because the photograph itself becomes a symbol of this historical moment. We think of art as paintings, but this photo is a document of a specific moment, and that is its power. I am reminded of the work of Gerhard Richter. He also uses photography as a medium, and blurs the images, in order to explore the instability of memory.