Else Wachenheimer-Moos op het strand met een ruige zee op de achtergrond, 1915-1925, Duitsland? c. 1915 - 1925

This photograph, from between 1915-1925, by the Wachenheimer family, shows Else Wachenheimer-Moos on a beach with a rough sea in the background. This has the feeling of a quick painting study. The artist captures Else with the sea. It feels like a search to pin something down in its being, or becoming. I can imagine the artist experimenting with different filters to see how Else appears on the page. It’s not necessarily about representation but maybe the picture is about creating a mood of longing and nostalgia through sepia. What I like here is the ambiguity: what is the relationship between the photographer and the subject? What is the relationship between the two figures of the sea and Else. These artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting, like photography, is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning.