Fabriekshal met machines en apparatuur, Duitsland c. 1910 - 1921

This sepia photograph by A. Gross captures a factory hall somewhere in Germany. Look at these huge machines with their imposing scale and intricate mechanics! Can you imagine the sheer scale of this factory space, filled with the hum and clatter of machinery? I wonder about the people who worked here, their lives intertwined with the rhythm of these mechanical beasts. Did the photographer choose this angle to show the human relationship to machinery? The play of light and shadow across the surfaces of the machines creates a dynamic composition. You know, photographs like these always remind me of the work of the Bechers. They photographed industrial structures over time. It shows how artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity. Each one makes the next one see things differently!