Industrie-Ruhrgebiet (Industry, the Ruhr) c. 1920s

Else Thalemann created this photograph called ‘Industrie-Ruhrgebiet’ but we don’t know when, the composition has a great sense of drama and captures a moment of labour. The high contrast tones and grainy texture feel very present. The surface has a stark simplicity, an attention to the way light falls on the shapes. Look at the curve of the tank taking up the lower half of the picture and see how your eye travels up the image. It feels as though the workers are part of the tank, rather than separate from it, tiny in comparison to the huge vessel, a metaphor for labour in the industrial age. Thalemann’s photograph reminds me of the work of other German photographers of the period, like August Sander, who were similarly interested in documenting the lives of working people. It’s not just a picture, it’s a record.