Isabel Wachenheimer kijkt uit het raam, 1931-1937, Stuttgart c. 1931 - 1937

This photograph of Isabel Wachenheimer was taken in Stuttgart sometime between 1931 and 1937 by a member of the Wachenheimer family. Look at Isabel’s little face, framed by the window, gazing out at the world beyond. I wonder what she’s thinking? What stories are unfolding in her mind as she looks beyond the glass? As an artist, when I look at this, I think about what is not there. I see the texture of film grain and imagine the photographer carefully framing the shot, trying to capture a moment of quiet reflection. I think about the history of portraiture, the desire to freeze a moment in time, to capture something essential about a person. What was life like for this child? What were her hopes and dreams? And what does it mean to look back at these images now, knowing what we know about the past? I think of other artist’s such as Gerhard Richter who collect and paint from found photographs, as a way of finding a new way of seeing.