Matroos aan boord van zijn schip 1940 - 1943

Editor: Here we have a photograph, a gelatin silver print from between 1940 and 1943, titled "Matroos aan boord van zijn schip," or "Sailor aboard his ship". It's credited to an anonymous artist and currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. The man seems poised, almost unnervingly calm. What can you tell us about this photo, in terms of its potential meanings or artistic impact? Curator: It certainly invites a myriad of interpretations, doesn't it? Looking at the way the sailor is positioned against the stark machinery of the ship and the vast emptiness of the sea and sky... I feel a potent sense of solitude and resilience all at once. The photograph almost feels like a quiet monument to all the anonymous figures who served during those years. Do you feel a connection to the sailor depicted here? Editor: I do, but in a strange way. He almost seems like a stand-in for everyone and no one at the same time, this idea of anonymity makes him distant. The photo feels staged yet real. Curator: Absolutely, the genius perhaps lies in that very paradox! It mirrors, for me, the internal battles and external realities that many faced, trapped between duty and longing. Editor: So it’s a photograph, but it also has that air of uncertainty found in history painting? Curator: Precisely. The way the anonymous artist managed to capture that quiet intensity – that silent stoicism – elevates it beyond just a portrait. It becomes an emblem of the era. I wonder if we can ever know his name... Editor: Thinking about the cultural background makes me see something different now. It makes me wonder about who was behind the camera... Curator: It changes your perception of the image completely doesn't it? That’s the real power this photograph possesses.