I’m taking a lot more photographs lately, and I’m looking at a lot of photographs. But there’s “looking”, and then there’s looking.
I mean, I see a lot of crap every day. I’m not a compulsive social media scroller, but I give myself ten minutes on Instagram daily. Then there’s whatever I see in my web browser, and my RSS reader. Not to forget the posters in the U-Bahn and the art books strewn around my studio. A lot of images wind up in front of my eyes, but it’s not like I really look at all of them. That would be exhausting.
This week I’m looking at some old photographs. I’ll look long enough to find ten things to say about each of them. It’s my hope this will help me look better and more deeply in general.
If I wind up developing x-ray vision, I’ll let you know.
The Foto
Found at a local flea market.
The Liste
1. The sign behind them probably says "Fischer Lacke Farben" or "Lacke & Farben"
2. Interesting that the phone/electricity pole is almost dead-center
3. Interesting that the girl is nearly lined up with the pole & dead-center. This feels like a detail you’d find in a well art-directed film & it would mean something
4. The girl is holding a purse
5. There's writing on the pediment, but I can't read it
6. Writing on the back dates the photograph to 1940
7. One of the people may be "Irmi", which is likely short for Irmgard
8. The writing on the back is in a lovely but hard to read fountain pen script
9. Are they just standing in a field, in front of the fence, that's in front of the chrome & paint factory?
10. They are both wearing "outfits" as opposed to simply clothes