Dimensions: height 316 mm, width 279 mm, height 316 mm, width 275 mm, height 318 mm, width 1663 mm
Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain
This photogravure of the Tanjong Pagar docks in Singapore by G. R. Lambert & Co., gives us a panoramic sweep of industry meeting nature. I am immediately drawn to how the buildings are captured. There is something both intimate and removed about the perspective, as the architecture is covered in foliage, revealing the roofs with a keen attention to how light falls on them. The tones are soft, the details muted, yet, somehow, the whole scene buzzes with life. Think of someone like Bernd and Hilla Becher, maybe, but with a less clinical eye. It’s more like a hazy memory than a crisp document. Like so much great art, this piece resists being pinned down, it is a reminder that seeing is never passive. It's a kind of active making.
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