Kriegsmarine Possibly 1941 - 1945

Editor: This is "Kriegsmarine," a photograph on paper by Reinhold Mohr, created sometime between 1941 and 1945. It's... remarkably still. Austere, almost. What's your initial reaction to its composition and texture? Curator: The materiality is definitely the first thing that strikes me. Consider the flatness, how the texture of the paper and the cover of the album is presented as a surface for contemplation. Do you find any structural qualities that draw you into it? Editor: The brown rectangle definitely dominates the frame. My eye is also drawn to the fastening on the left, which is also a study in texture. The roughness there contrasts with the smooth expanse of the album cover. Curator: Precisely. We have the rough twine creating an almost tactile experience in opposition to the simulated texture of the binding. What about the framing? Does the photographer’s choice to position it as such enhance the overall composition for you? Editor: Absolutely. By cropping the subject so closely, Mohr focuses our attention on the immediate visual properties, turning something utilitarian into something... almost monumental. Curator: That monumentality, the simple geometric forms, could speak to larger theoretical frameworks like structuralism. How those basic elements create deeper symbolic meaning. Does analyzing it this way shift your initial feeling? Editor: It does. It makes me appreciate the work's abstract qualities, regardless of the literal content within the album. Curator: And for me, it underscores how we can isolate art from its implied historical function and see the composition's aesthetic values as primary. Editor: That's a great way to conclude; now I appreciate Mohr's "Kriegsmarine" on an entirely different level.