Theefabriek Possibly 1931

Isken’s Theefabriek is a black and white photograph documenting the construction of a tea factory around 1932. I love thinking about the way images become these containers for history, time capsules with information locked inside. When I look at this, I imagine Isken setting up his camera, thinking about what he wanted to capture, trying to frame this scene just so. There's a certain way the steel structures are shot, all heavy and hulking, that makes me think of Bernd and Hilla Becher and their photographs of industrial buildings. It’s like Isken wanted to get the precise texture of the metal, the way the light reflects off it, even when it's still quite matte. And the way the two workers are just sitting there, surrounded by bricks, like they're part of the factory itself. The thing about photos and paintings is that they all come from somewhere and are in conversation with each other, even across time. We build on each other’s ideas, riffing and remixing. It’s pretty cool when you think about it, this ongoing conversation through images.