Inlegapparaat in de drukkerij 1921

This photograph by T. Kaneo captures a printing press in action, though it's unclear exactly when it was made. Looking at this image, I think about the choreography of labor and the mechanics of reproduction. The workers, their faces etched with focus, are part of this intricate system. I wonder, what were their days like, feeding paper into the hungry machine, watching words and images multiply? Kaneo invites us to see the beauty in the industrial, the human element intertwined with cogs and wheels. It reminds me of other artists who found inspiration in factories and machines, like Charles Sheeler, who celebrated the American industrial landscape in his paintings and photographs. I bet the precision and repetition of the printing process were just as important as the final print. Each gear and lever has a kind of visual music to it.