Microscopische opname van mahoniehout, zestig keer vergroot 1887 - 1888

This is Marinus Pieter Filbri's microscopic photograph of mahogany, enlarged sixty times. What strikes you first is the stark contrast; a bright, textured circle set against a dark, square background. Inside, various organic shapes and cellular structures dominate. Filbri's photograph presents us with a tension between the scientific and the aesthetic. Consider the stark, almost brutal clarity with which Filbri captures the wood’s structure. The photograph makes visible what is normally concealed, revealing the complex patterns that constitute the material. The magnification destabilizes our familiar understanding, challenging our perception of scale and materiality. The image becomes a site where the boundaries between art and science blur. By framing and focusing on the patterns within mahogany, Filbri invites us to reflect on how we construct meaning through observation. What could be seen as pure data is transformed into a tableau that prompts us to question the very nature of seeing.