Genodigden met elkaar in gesprek Possibly 1935

This untitled photograph captures a group of people in conversation. It was made some time ago by an anonymous photographer. The image is full of subtle tonal shifts, an array of blacks and whites, built up with delicate photographic process. Look at the figure in the white hat. See how the edges are soft and blurred? This gentle focus is a clue to the way that the picture was built, a series of decisions and experiments in the darkroom. It reminds me of the way that Ed Ruscha built his word paintings, a slow process of building and layering, in contrast to the sharp, commercial images with which he is more commonly associated. The image is not really about a grand message, but about the small things: the subtle movements, the gestures and the way light falls on the surface. Art is a conversation, and sometimes the best conversations are the ones where we listen more than we speak. And in this image, there is a lot to listen to.