Nieuwe Maas c. 1900 - 1910

This is a photograph by Henricus Jacobus Tollens, of Nieuwe Maas. Its grayscale makes me think about artmaking as a process stripped down to its most essential forms: light and shadow. The photograph has a grainy texture, which feels like a kind of visual noise, giving the image an almost dreamlike quality. The contrast between the dark machinery and the lighter sky makes me think about the tension between industry and nature. The sharp lines of the cranes and bridges create a sense of order, while the soft blur of the water suggests a more fluid, unpredictable world. In the lower left, there's a pile of what looks like dirt, perhaps dredged from the river. It's a messy, ambiguous form that contrasts with the clean lines of the industrial structures. It reminds me that art, like life, is full of contradictions and messy surprises. Think of Bernd and Hilla Becher's photographs, which embrace the beauty and strangeness of industrial landscapes. Art is an ongoing conversation, and each piece is just one voice in the chorus.