Militair 1940 - 1945

A.C. Cooper made this photograph, titled "Militair," with a camera and film, capturing a moment frozen in time. Look at how the light falls on the soldier's helmet, almost echoing the soft gradients in the dark curtain behind him. This image is all about tones, shades of grey telling a story that color would only complicate. I think about the darkroom, Cooper carefully coaxing these values out of the chemicals. The gun he's holding is the focal point, the line of it cutting across the frame, everything else in service to this instrument of… well, that’s up for grabs, isn't it? I'm reminded of August Sander's portraits, people defined by their profession, but Cooper's photo has this added layer of… something. Like the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Cooper’s photograph seems to be part of an ongoing conversation about how we document, what we choose to see, and what that says about us.