Volendam 1935 - 1942

This photo album of Volendam contains gelatin silver prints on paper stuck to cardboard. I love the randomness of how things are put together; it’s like a visual diary laid bare, where the process is the point. The images are small, intimate glimpses of everyday life. There’s a realness to them; the texture of the paper, the contrast between light and shadow – you can almost smell the sea air. Look at the way the photos are crooked; they are like memories, not perfect or polished but all the more powerful for that. The physicality of the medium—the slightly worn edges of the photos, the way they’re stuck onto the cardboard—adds another layer of meaning. It reminds us that art is not just about the final product, but about the materials and the processes that go into making it. It reminds me of the work of collage artists like Hannah Höch, who pieced together fragments of reality to create new and unexpected meanings. Art’s an ongoing conversation, a dialogue across time.