Dam bij een kanaal c. 1900s - 1910s

Here's a small photograph of a dam by a canal, but we don't know by whom or when it was made. What was on the photographer's mind, I wonder, when they lifted the camera? There's something so basic about a structure placed in water. I bet they were staring at the way the light bounces, trying to capture that sheen that makes the water look alive. Those dark arches reflected in the water, what do they mean? Or, is it just about the surface? I wonder if they were thinking about history as they pressed the button, about how we're always trying to control nature, like the flow of a river. And it reminds me, every picture, every painting, is also an attempt to tame the wildness of life, to make sense of things, even if it's just for a moment.