Opstelling van de vaste overspanning brug over de Oude Maas op de rechter oever bij Spijkenisse 1902 - 1906

This bridge was photographed in June 1902 by Arnaud Pistoor & Zoon, somewhere near Spijkenisse, and looking at it I just think about the labor involved. I mean, the sheer physical effort to construct something like this, piece by piece, rivet by rivet. It’s like a drawing in space. All those crossing lines, creating depth and volume with just struts of metal. There's an elegance in the structure, a kind of visual rhythm that I find really appealing. It’s all about engineering, sure, but there's something almost painterly about the way the light falls across the surfaces, creating textures and shadows. I think about the conversations between artists and architects, the exchange of ideas across disciplines. It’s all connected, you know? A bridge is just another kind of mark-making, another way of shaping the world around us.