Groepen en schip 1929 - 1930

This is a page from an old photo album, titled Groepen en schip, by an anonymous artist. It’s a collection of black and white photographs, each one a little window into another time. What strikes me is the arrangement, the way the photos are placed on the page, like a little constellation. I wonder about the hands that carefully pasted these images down, creating a narrative through juxtaposition. The texture of the photos feels almost palpable, with their slightly faded surfaces and soft edges. Look at the bottom image, the one with the ship. The way the light reflects off the water, creating these shimmering patterns, feels so immediate. It reminds me of those old movies where everything seems a little blurry, but full of life. Like artmaking, memories are often fragmented, open to interpretation. It reminds me of the work of Gerhard Richter, actually, he also worked with found photographs to create paintings that are both nostalgic and slightly unsettling, playing with the idea of memory and representation.