Olieschakelaar in een electriciteitscentrale op onbekende locatie in de Verenigde Staten 1936

Wouter Cool made this photographic print of an oil switch in a power station, somewhere in the US. It’s undated, but I get a distinct mid-century vibe from the image. I'm struck by the way the stark black and white emphasizes the abstract forms and textures of the machinery, so much that it begins to resemble a modernist sculpture. The contrast between light and shadow gives the piece a dramatic, almost surreal quality. I keep coming back to that flat graphic on the left side of the frame, as if Cool was trying to make an image and a diagram at the same time. It makes me think about Man Ray, who was also deeply interested in the intersection of photography, abstraction, and industrial forms. To me, this image is a reminder that art is always in conversation with the world around it, constantly reinterpreting and reimagining what it sees.