This photograph is a representation of documentary photography because it captures the spirit of a time period. What drew me to this image initially was I recognized this street from my travels. It's in a fairly busy, but average street. This image of it was taken at the end of German occupation of the Netherlands, which was a chaotic time in Dutch history. The group of German soldiers rushing around wearing gas masks are coming in with a furious blur and making everyone stop and look at them. But the subject of the image is the people watching the soldiers, trapped until they pass. Both groups of people represent the strange juxtaposition of this point in history, between absolute war and everyone else frozen trying to get out of its way. For me, documentary photography should try to combine the various forces behind a moment or conflict and this image is successful in bringing these elements together.
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