Interieur met werknemers van de machinefabriek van Gebroeders Stork & Co before 1894

This photograph, found within the pages of a book, offers a glimpse into the machine factory of Gebroeders Stork & Co. It's made through a process of chemical and optical engineering, capturing a complex industrial scene. The image is dominated by the factory’s hulking metal machinery, its texture is coarse, weight imposing, and form monumental. Light filters through the factory’s high windows, illuminating the workers within. The photograph's significance lies in its depiction of labor. The photo conveys the sheer amount of work that goes into industrial production. Photography, itself a product of industrial advancement, became a tool for documenting and, at times, celebrating this new era of manufacturing. This image prompts us to consider how the rise of industry transformed not only the material world, but also the social fabric of the time. In doing so, it challenges the traditional divide between artistic representation and the realities of working life.