Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin 1932

Lotte Jacobi made this photograph of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. It’s a gelatin silver print, full of moody blacks and greys. It feels like a dream… or maybe a memory. I imagine Jacobi out there in the cold, setting up her camera, waiting for the right moment. The city's shrouded in fog, and the lights glow through the haze. It's like she's painting with light and shadow, isn't it? The way the headlights streak across the wet street, they remind me of brushstrokes, smudged and blurred. What was she thinking as she framed this shot? Maybe about the weight of history, the way the past lingers in the present, or maybe she was just trying to capture a feeling, a mood. Like how a painter mixes colors to get the right tone, she’s layering light and dark to create a feeling of mystery and melancholy. I just love the contrast. It's how artists see things: a constant dialogue across time and space.