SMY Hohenzollern II te water c. 1893 - 1917

This is a photograph of SMY Hohenzollern II in the water by Symonds & Co. Wow, I immediately think of scale here. I feel small looking at this thing, don't you? I wonder if it's the ship itself or the occasion, or just the very idea of the ocean. I'm imagining the photographer squinting into the viewfinder, trying to capture all this at once, the boat and sea together, and also something about an atmosphere. It is fun to think about the history of this thing, this machine, and the story of its making. It's so easy to forget how, even with the best technology, there's a human behind it all, directing, deciding. I can't help but think of all the anonymous laborers involved, all of whom had some notion of what they were doing and why. It’s a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time, inspiring creativity, and a form of embodied expression embracing ambiguity to allow multiple interpretations.