Another weird exhibit at the Fotomuseum Den Haag. This time, it is an exhibit of photographs literally dug out of nowhere. A photographer, Ernst Lalleman, found a box full of large-format negatives in a squatted building in The Hague in 1984. These photographs were taken by a studio, well known to the locals in the past “Foto Americain”. This is a bizarre encounter with past inhabitants of The Hague, most of which are total strangers, photographed in the 1960’s. Lalleman had the idea, through his project “Who are we”, to give a name to these people. So far, he was able to trace back 48 of them. Beyond the documentary aspect, those photographs show a world that is no longer. Nostalgia for the 60’s? I don’t think so, but these people, young and old, staring straight back at us, are disarming and endearing, and yet, strange and weird.
