Hockeyende leerlingen van Schule Schloss Salem c. 1929

Curator: "Hockeyende leerlingen van Schule Schloss Salem," a gelatin-silver print from around 1929... What strikes you about it at first glance? Editor: The air. It feels charged, almost crackling, even though it's a still photograph. There’s something in the composition, the grey sky, that makes you sense movement and energy despite the antiquated material. Curator: Indeed. Think about the labor and chemistry required to produce this image! From preparing the gelatin emulsion to meticulously coating the glass plate or film base and all the work required to then produce this print... It's a far cry from our instant gratification. It also speaks volumes about the institutional culture and its means of documenting itself and crafting its image, literally and figuratively, to project power and success. Editor: It’s funny how those values—the photographic labor, the documentation—contrast with what looks like joyful play, however structured. Do you know much about the setting of this shot? Curator: The Schule Schloss Salem was an elite boarding school in Germany founded after World War I. It aimed to cultivate future leaders, emphasizing physical activity alongside academics. This hockey game was part of that agenda. Editor: So, we're not just seeing a game; we’re witnessing a system in action. How social class impacts accessibility to materiality and photographic technology but also what leisure and self-expression could look like... It really exposes this intersection. The uniformity of dress suggests not only conformity to institutional standards but also how material availability or standardization shapes culture. It is difficult to imagine that students may not even have possessed an individual outfit. Curator: Exactly, and if we delve deeper into German Expressionism, of which this image presents echoes in tonality and atmosphere, it's remarkable how they were exploring emotional depths with accessible means. Editor: The photo feels… spectral. Almost dreamlike, capturing a kind of fleeting, collective action, but in this solid material way. Curator: It's beautiful how a physical object created so deliberately—gelatin and silver transformed through light—captures such ephemeral qualities. Thank you, this insight will really impact how people will view it. Editor: Of course. The material offers more than just an aesthetic experience, but it becomes evidence of time, labor, and a very specific socio-political context. A rich record for viewers!