Bochum Possibly 1939

This intriguing photo album page called 'Bochum,' of unknown date and authorship, presents us with a quartet of monochromatic scenes. It's got that wonderful quality of a world seen through someone else's eyes. The tones are subtle, almost a whisper – each scene a delicate rendering in shades of gray. Look closely and you can see how the texture of the photographic paper itself adds another layer to the image. I find myself wondering about the hands that carefully placed these images, and the life lived by the person who carried this album. Take the top left shot of the ‘Rosengarten’. Here, the composition guides your eye through the meticulously arranged garden beds. This use of composition is quite similar to the framing of forms used by someone like Atget. Both show how an awareness of space and form can bring a sense of order to our perception of the world. And that in itself is a means of subtly shaping experience. It's a quiet piece, inviting you to slow down, to observe. Like all art, it's ultimately about how we see, and what we choose to notice.