Oakland Bridge, San Francisco, Verenigde Staten: constructie 1936

Curator: Looking at this photograph from 1936 titled, “Oakland Bridge, San Francisco, Verenigde Staten: constructie,” what’s your initial reaction? Editor: It feels like being swallowed by geometry! All these metal girders slicing the light… I can almost feel the wind whipping around. Makes you a little dizzy, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. The photographer, Wouter Cool, is clearly interested in form here. Observe the interplay of the strong, dark lines of the bridge's skeleton against the flat, ethereal sky. The composition emphasizes structure through repetition and contrasting tonal values, all pointing to a Precisionist sensibility. Editor: Totally. It’s like the bones of a giant metal beast rising from the water. Cool, in more than one way! There’s something… cold about it, too. Maybe because you’re focusing on this huge industrial achievement, and sort of removed from all the hustle and bustle it must've been meant for. Does that make sense? Curator: Yes, the emotional detachment aligns perfectly with Modernist principles. Cool focuses not on the bridge as a route of transit but on its inherent geometry as the subject matter. The lines, angles, and the contrasts—it's almost an abstract rendering, stripped of human presence, but suggestive of great engineering and powerful aesthetic impact. Editor: Right! It's the *idea* of a bridge. Not just some place to get from one side to the other. The shadows are so important, they create a whole new layer. They stretch and multiply all the lines. Do you think Cool intended this abstract shadow-play as the key visual motif? Curator: The sharp focus across the framework allows the shadows to become integral to our appreciation, yes. Through them, the photographer exposes us to an industrial cityscape in a manner devoid of sentiment. A photograph to inspire contemplation. Editor: Contemplation it is. Staring at this thing long enough you can start wondering about every worker, every rivet, the sheer effort…then I look back up at the perfect, cold lines, and bam!—art strikes again. Curator: A perfect encapsulation of its modernist roots, presenting industry in terms of pure formal expression, highlighting form, line and shadow in a carefully arranged geometric abstraction. Editor: Gives you a new kind of respect, doesn't it? Thanks Wouter Cool for opening our eyes, or rather rearranging the view from our eyes...