Fabriekshal met machines en apparatuur, Duitsland c. 1910 - 1921

This photograph, 'Fabriekshal met machines en apparatuur, Duitsland' by A. Gross captures a German factory hall, and all its machinery, in tones of sepia. The light falls through the high windows, illuminating the textured surfaces of the machines. The photograph itself is a thing, a physical object, and these various surfaces it depicts within its own surface feel very present to me. Look at how the huge, dark flywheels dominate the scene. They feel almost gothic, like portals to another dimension. But then, your eye finds a figure, a worker, dwarfed by the scale of it all. It's this contrast of scale that really gets me going – the personal versus the industrial. There's a connection to be drawn with the great Bernd and Hilla Becher, who photographed industrial structures with such precision and cool detachment, and like them, Gross’ work offers a perspective on the nature of progress and its impact on the human condition. Ultimately, it leaves you with more questions than answers, which is what great art should do, right?