Groep foto's van hoofdingenieur Frédéric Gabriël Dumas 1912 - 1942

This photograph, captured by Frédéric Gabriël Dumas, presents a monochrome group portrait. The grayscale palette creates a sense of immediacy, the kind you get when you are thumbing through your parent's old photos. Looking closely, you'll notice the range of textures, from the smoothness of the sky to the more granular soil in the foreground. The marks in the mud look like footprints, but they also conjure up a kind of abstract expressionism; it’s hard not to think of someone like Pollock! The composition seems to be caught between objectivity and something more dreamlike and subjective. This feels similar to the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who I think were also invested in using photography to highlight themes of work, industry, and change. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to shout to be heard.