Gezicht op een zweefmolen met vliegtuigjes op de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1905 in Luik 1905

This photograph captures a merry-go-round with airplanes at the World's Fair in Liège, sometime around 1905, by an anonymous photographer. It makes me think about the process of artmaking, how you never really know what the end result will be when you start. Look closely at how the light catches the metal struts of the carousel. The contrast between the dark supports and the bright cables creates a real sense of depth. You can almost feel the air moving around the planes as they swing around the center. I love the ambiguity of the image. Is it a celebration of progress, or a nostalgic look back at a simpler time? It reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher's photographs of industrial structures, in the way it elevates a utilitarian object to a thing of beauty. Maybe art is just finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and sharing it with the world.