Werkplaats met de Vulcain Possibly 1907

Henricus Jacobus Tollens made this black and white photograph, 'Werkplaats met de Vulcain,' and it feels like stepping back in time, doesn't it? It's almost cinematic. I imagine Tollens, setting up his camera, probably a large format, you can tell by the incredible detail in the photograph. This involved a whole setup, it was a whole thing... I think it would have been a big operation to capture this scene. And what a scene it is, so many different elements that all sit well together. The texture of the land, the sky, the people working on their task. What would they have been thinking? Were they aware that they were being photographed? The single man standing on his own adds to the mystery. It’s like he captured not just a moment, but the whole atmosphere of the place, and time. It's not just about what’s there, but what isn’t—the stories, the echoes of a bustling workspace, the weight of that sky.