Groep Nederlanders in Korea 1951 - 1953

This small photo, Groep Nederlanders in Korea, was taken by David Ketel, but we don’t know exactly when. It’s got this faded Kodachrome vibe, and the colours are still so vibrant. Looking at it, I imagine Ketel carefully composing the shot, maybe under the pressure of a limited film roll, trying to capture something meaningful in a fleeting moment. The way he’s framed these men, some in uniform, one in a suit—there’s a story there, right? What was he thinking as he clicked the shutter? I’m thinking about how photography, like painting, is a dance with light and time. It’s about capturing a specific point of view, freezing it, and then letting it speak across time. Artists work across time. They speak to each other, knowingly or unknowingly. What might Ketel’s photograph say to us now? How does this image, a tiny window into another time, resonate with our own experiences?