Volendam 1935 - 1942

This photographic album, simply titled Volendam, is from an unknown date and by an anonymous hand and lives in the Rijksmuseum. It’s a collection of different views, a series of details each becoming a part of the larger picture. The contrast between light and shadow in each image creates sharp edges that delineate the figures from the landscape, and the landscape from the architecture. Take the photo in the top left; the negative space around the knitting woman with the windmills creates a silhouette, with a dark and light balance. It’s really about the relationship between the woman and the structures surrounding her, how her shape and stance becomes a symbol for the environment and community as a whole. Think about how we use photography to make and capture memories, but in doing so, the memory itself becomes an ambiguous, evolving form that's constantly reforming into something new. It makes me think of the work of Gerhard Richter, the way he transforms and obscures found photography into paintings, a process of layering meaning and mystery.