Fermenteermachine Possibly 1934 - 1939

This photograph of a fermentation machine, by an anonymous maker, is part of a collection held at the Rijksmuseum. I can imagine the photographer, probably commissioned, circling this strange steel object in a factory, trying to frame its hulking, geometric presence. What’s so weirdly beautiful is the soft light that reveals all the slight dents and imperfections. It’s not trying to be art, but it has a brutal grace. I think of Bernd and Hilla Becher, and their deadpan photos of industrial architecture. They saw the beauty in the mundane, and how these structures, however functional, speak to our human desire to make things, to shape the world around us, one photograph at a time. This picture, like so many others, invites us to look closer and appreciate the unexpected poetry of the everyday. It's a reminder that art can be found in the most unlikely places.