Victor Elschansky (1913-1981) Rare Street Photograph Circa 1950 "at Peter Pan"

This photograph, titled *At Peter Pan* (circa 1950), by Victor Elschansky is a striking example of his humanist and poetic view of the post-war period. It demonstrates childlike curiosity and the power of the imagination in a world still marked by the deprivations and scars of conflict. Description of the photograph The scene takes place in front of a window displaying the sign “At Peter Pan – Sale & Purchase – New & Used”. Three children, seen from behind, stand on tiptoe to observe the books and magazines displayed behind the glass. Their silhouettes, pressed against each other, reflect a complicity and a shared thirst for discovery. The contrast between the decrepit façade, with its peeling walls, and the colorful world (invisible but suggested) of books and comics behind the glass is striking. In particular, we can see the covers of illustrated magazines, promising adventure and escape. The choice of the title *Au Peter Pan* is not insignificant: it evokes the character who refuses to grow up, a symbol of innocence and freedom, resonating with the attitude of children absorbed by the world of the imagination. The composition is of great visual force: the children, leaning inward, seem literally caught by the window, as if the border between reality and dreams were dissolving. The black and white accentuates the contrast between the harshness of everyday life and the inner light of the imagination. Artistic and symbolic context This photograph is fully in line with the approach of Elschansky and the *Subjective Fotografie* movement. It goes beyond the simple street scene to become a metaphor: childhood as a refuge, reading and the imagination as an escape from reality. In post-war Europe, marked by reconstruction and the material and psychological after-effects, children represent the future, but also a form of resistance through creativity and dreams. Here, the photographer captures a moment of collective wonder, a parenthesis of light in a setting of poverty. We find in this image the influence of humanist photography (Doisneau, Ronis, Izis), but with a particular intensity: Elschansky does not content himself with showing children in the street, he captures the moment when reality tips over into the imaginary, when the outside world—damaged, rough—opens up with a promise of escape. Expanded biography of the artist Victor (Vitja) Elschansky (1913-1993), born in Schmérinka (Ukraine), fled the pogroms at a very young age and found refuge in Belgium. A self-taught photographer, he collaborated with the Belga agency before being arrested during the Second World War and interned in the Breendonk camp. After surviving, he resumed a scientific career as a chemical engineer at Solvay, but devoted a large part of his life to photography. From the 1950s onwards, he joined the *Subjective Fotografie* movement initiated by Otto Steinert, which advocated an expressive, subjective and poetic photography. His works, exhibited in Europe, the United States and Japan, bear witness to a perspective deeply influenced by his experiences, oscillating between memory, humanism and aesthetic exploration. - [ ]