Marba en Eckart Titzenthaler, kinderen van de fotograaf, met haan op het dakterras van het woonhuis in de Friedrichstrasse, Berlijn 1918 - 1920

Editor: Here we have Waldemar Titzenthaler’s “Marba en Eckart Titzenthaler, kinderen van de fotograaf, met haan op het dakterras van het woonhuis in de Friedrichstrasse, Berlijn,” a photograph taken sometime between 1918 and 1920. I'm struck by how intimate it feels, capturing this candid moment between siblings and their rather large pet. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a carefully staged tableau masking as a candid snapshot. Consider the period: post-World War I Germany. Resources were scarce; the traditional family unit was under immense strain, with fathers lost in the war and women entering the workforce. How do these children represent a sense of displaced innocence, sitting on what looks like a barricade facing away from us, clutching the symbol of animal virility, in the bombed ruins of their home town? Editor: Barricade? The brick structure just seemed like part of the rooftop, but I see what you mean. Curator: Consider the implications. Children were particularly vulnerable during this time of socio-economic upheaval. The presence of the rooster becomes less charming and more like a poignant reminder of pre-war rural life in stark contrast to industrialized Germany's impact and social change brought by a lost war. Is the rooftop really a place of freedom, or a confinement reflecting a nation struggling to redefine itself? Editor: So, this photograph captures not just a portrait, but the anxieties of a generation during a critical time of transition? Curator: Precisely! The "genre-painting" style combined with the realistic execution reflects the societal desire to idealize and preserve, perhaps even fabricate, memories of pre-war life while confronting a drastically altered reality. Editor: Wow, I didn't consider that. Seeing it as a commentary on societal anxiety completely changes my perspective. Thanks for that! Curator: It’s crucial to dissect the surface layer to understand what a work is really speaking to about a certain place at a certain moment. Keep questioning.