Rotterdam, mei 1940 Possibly 1940 - 1945

Editor: So this is "Rotterdam, mei 1940", made sometime between 1940 and 1945, the artist is unknown. They are gelatin-silver prints displayed within an album, quite small. The photographs show devastation; it looks like images taken directly after a bombing. I'm struck by how ordinary these scenes of destruction seem to be in this context. What jumps out to you when you look at this? Curator: The material reality of these gelatin-silver prints speaks volumes. Think about the labor involved – the photographer, the development process, the printing, the placement within this album. It’s not just about the bombed Rotterdam; it’s about the means through which we receive this information. What kind of social purpose did this album serve? Was it a personal memento? Or a tool of political documentation, showcasing the brutal efficiency of war's machinery? Editor: That's a good point. I was focused on the depiction of the bombing, but I didn’t consider the production. Do you think the choice of photography as a medium influences how we view the depicted devastation? Curator: Absolutely. Photography, even then, carried a certain weight of objectivity. But let’s not forget the hand of the photographer in framing these scenes, in selecting what to show and what to omit. And even the chemical processes used in creating these prints, each carries the weight of technological progress and its application within a society geared towards industrialized conflict. Editor: So by considering the materials and processes, we shift from just seeing the destruction to thinking about how this devastation was documented and consumed as an image. I never thought about the implications of its physicality, the print itself, like that. Curator: Exactly. Understanding the production and consumption gives us a fuller understanding of its impact, and raises questions about the society that produced it.