Ruïnes bij de Leuvehaven te Rotterdam c. 1940 - 1945

This photograph, ‘Ruïnes bij de Leuvehaven te Rotterdam’ by J. Nolte, plunges you right into a scene of urban devastation. The grays and blacks do a lot of heavy lifting here, creating a somber mood that hangs over everything. I can't help but wonder what Nolte was thinking, standing there with their camera. You know, the act of framing such widespread destruction – did it feel like bearing witness, or maybe a kind of desperate attempt to hold onto something? There’s a tension between trying to capture what was lost, and the dawning realization that some things can never really be recovered. Look at those piles of rubble, how the camera catches the light on broken bricks. Nolte's eye transforms ruins into something strangely beautiful, but also haunting. It reminds me that every artist is, in a way, having a conversation with those who came before, grappling with how to make sense of the world.