Bezoek aan Kampen 1932 - 1939

This is a photo album page titled ‘Bezoek aan Kampen’ by Herman Besselaar. It's hard to pin down a date, but let's say it was made sometime in the mid-20th century. What strikes me is the collection of snapshots arranged on this grey card, the white text written on the card. The handwritten quality of the text adds a personal, almost diaristic feel to the album page. The grainy texture and the stark contrast in the black and white photos create a sense of depth. The images themselves – street views, a church, a building identified as the former residence of the Besselaar family, and a boat trip – feel like fragmented memories. This reminds me a bit of Gerhard Richter's photo paintings, the way he uses the photographic image as a starting point for abstraction and memory. The materiality of the album page – the way the photos are adhered to the card, the handwritten text – all point to the intimate, hands-on process of creating a personal archive. It's a reminder that artmaking is not just about the finished product but the journey of creation itself.