Optocht door de straten 1936 - 1939

Berti Hoppe's "Optocht door de straten" is an arrangement of black and white photographs, mounted on what looks like a page of an album. These grainy images, with their serrated edges, aren't trying to be slick. They're modest, almost like snapshots, capturing slices of life. See how Hoppe's captured a parade, a moment where people gather in public. I think Hoppe’s work reminds us that art isn't just about grand gestures or perfect finishes; it’s often about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. The details in the central photograph are really amazing. You can see the soft focus on a group of people, almost a crowd. The composition is striking, too, the way the lines of the crowd and the buildings converge. Think of how someone like Gerhard Richter used photography as a source to be painted. They blur the edges between high and low, personal and political.