Oakland Bridge, San Francisco, Verenigde Staten 1936

Wouter Cool took this photograph of the Oakland Bridge in San Francisco, but when? It's hard to tell; it has that ageless quality of black and white. I love the strong horizontal lines of the bridge contrasting with the verticals supporting them. Imagine Cool choosing the viewpoint, considering how the light would capture the texture of the concrete and steel. The composition has a geometric rhythm, a kind of architectural music. As a painter, I'm always interested in how artists see the world, how they translate three dimensions into two. Cool must have been excited by the bridge's grandeur and scale and how it dwarfs the figures standing near the bus. I wonder if he knew that the abstract expressionists would be just around the corner, influenced by photography? I see something of their ambition here. It’s all one big conversation, isn’t it?