Safe Harbor Dam, Pennsylvania, Verenigde Staten: brandblusinstallatie 1936

Wouter Cool’s photographic print captures a fire extinguishing system at the Safe Harbor Dam in Pennsylvania. I’m immediately intrigued by Cool's almost graphic sensibility. It’s tempting to imagine him there, adjusting his camera, framing the shot, and maybe even thinking about how the stark contrast of the industrial structure against the sky might translate into a visual language all its own. The image is sharp, clear, with strong geometric lines and a careful composition that almost flattens the space, turning the scene into an abstract arrangement of shapes. There’s a curious balance here: the cold functionality of the dam equipment paired with the very human desire to document, to frame, and to find a kind of austere beauty in this industrial landscape. Cool’s work reminds us that art-making often means looking closely, thinking through the lens, and discovering unexpected poetry in the everyday.