Gebouw van de Kriegsmarine 1940 - 1943

This photograph of the Kriegsmarine building is a small, unassuming document, probably from the period it depicts. The grayscale tones feel immediate and unadorned, a kind of artlessness that lets the subject speak plainly. I'm drawn to the way the anonymous photographer framed the building, capturing it as an object, something solid and present. The building itself has a weightiness, a sense of history, almost like it's posing for its portrait. The sky is light, almost white, and the building contrasts against it. Look at the way the light defines the edges of the roof, each brick and tile is slightly off-kilter in a way that gives it a real, human quality. It reminds me of some of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher; they made a career of photographing industrial buildings, and while their images were very formal, there was an undeniable emotional element, in their case, a kind of wonder at these structures. Here, that emotion feels much more ambivalent. This photograph leaves me pondering the stories held within these walls.