Half of a main girder in the F. Kloos & Zonen factory in Kinderdijk 1902 - 1905

Here’s this photogravure, made in May 1902 by Arnaud Pistoor & Zoon, showing half a girder laid out in the F. Kloos & Zonen factory in Kinderdijk. It’s all about the grid here, right? A celebration of process through geometry. The photogravure gives the photo a depth, almost a tactile quality. You can almost feel the cool, smooth surface of the metal. The tones create a play of light and shadow, emphasizing the angles and lines of the girder. See how the grid is echoed in the factory windows along the left side. What is it about the repetition of those triangles that holds my attention? Maybe it’s the slight variations, the imperfections that speak to the human hand in its construction. It brings to mind the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, their typologies of industrial structures. This photo is like the ancestor of all those serial images.