Kwartier in Buschhoven 1939 - 1940

This is “Kwartier in Buschhoven,” an anonymous photograph, or rather a collection of three, pasted into an album. The thing that grabs me is how these images, probably shot with a simple camera, become almost abstract studies. It's all about light and shadow, a wintery world distilled into grayscale tones. The snow-covered buildings become blocks of white, sharply contrasted against the dark skies and fields, simplifying shapes. Look at the central photo. The barbed wire fence in the foreground creates these amazing horizontal lines. They cut through the space, drawing your eye towards the distant buildings, and the soft, snow-covered fields. It's this back and forth, between near and far, dark and light, that gives the image such depth. This piece reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher, in the way it captures the beauty of everyday structures. But here, there’s also a touch of something else: a quiet, almost melancholic feeling. It invites you to slow down, and to really see the world around you.