Toshiba, Kawasaki City, Japan Possibly 1989 - 2006

Lewis Baltz made this photograph, “Toshiba, Kawasaki City, Japan” using chromogenic print. The cool colour palette and precise photographic method makes me think about the kind of aesthetic you find in science fiction. A clinical vision of the future. Look at the light in this image, how it bounces off the surfaces, making the mundane look hyper-real. There's a tension between the industrial setting, all pipes and utilitarian structures, and the subtle gradations of colour, from the pale concrete floor to the dull gleam of the metal. I am particularly drawn to the texture of those filter panels, divided into four quadrants, like a minimalist sculpture. Baltz is doing something similar to what Ed Ruscha was doing in the 60’s, taking the everyday and imbuing it with an almost surreal quality. They both suggest that there's more to the world than meets the eye, and it's in these overlooked spaces that we find something profound. It embraces ambiguity, inviting us to find our own meaning in the stark beauty of the industrial landscape.