Drie gezichten op Bratislava, Hainburg en Gönyü 1930 - 1931

This is Berti Hoppe’s photographic triptych of Bratislava, Hainburg, and Gönyü, which, although undated, captures something essential about the relationship between places. The black and white images are held in place by decorative photo-corners on a dark page, the way you might frame a picture in your mind. The framing is what makes it work, turning each into a little gem. Each image is a specific place, yet when viewed together, they become less fixed. They are not just places but memories, dreams, ideas. They have all the emotion of a memory. In the Bratislava image, notice how the buildings seem to pile up. There’s a blurring of the image that could come from the camera or could equally be from the fallibility of memory. Hoppe’s work reminds me of Gerhard Richter’s blurred paintings from photographs; it is not about the place itself, but about our emotional attachment to it. It feels like Hoppe is saying, I was there, I remember this, but I also know that the memory is an illusion.