Duitse soldaat met fiets op een brug Possibly 1940 - 1945

This small photograph captures a German soldier with a bicycle on a bridge, and was made with a camera, sometime during the second world war. Look at how the tones are distributed, almost as though the light has washed the soldier into the scene. It's a casual composition, the soldier isn't centered, in fact he seems to have been caught unawares and has turned to face the camera. The bicycle is also cut off, and the bridge on which the two characters stand seems to hover in the middle distance. This almost accidental arrangement belies the historical context and hints at the way in which photography often captures those moments of everyday life which are often overlooked in grander, historical narratives. Thinking of other artists, I’m reminded of the work of Gerhard Richter, who also used photography to make paintings that capture a sense of history and memory. Art’s like that, an ongoing conversation with the past, always open to new interpretations.