Vouw van de linker stroompijler voor de brug over de Oude Maas bij Spijkenisse 1901 - 1909

This photograph of the 'Vouw van de linker stroompijler voor de brug over de Oude Maas bij Spijkenisse', was taken in September 1901 by Arnaud Pistoor & Zoon. It looks like a bridge in mid-construction, a skeletal scaffolding mirrored in the water. The whole scene is captured in soft sepia tones, which makes the texture of the wood and the surface of the water seem almost palpable. The composition is all about layering – the crisscrossing beams of the bridge supports, the flat plane of the water, and the distant shore all work together. Look closely at that one spot where the scaffolding dips low, close to the water. There's a sense of precariousness, a vulnerability that’s almost poetic. You get the feeling that art, like architecture, is all about building something new from what’s already there, a constant conversation between past and future. This photograph reminds me a little bit of some of Bernd and Hilla Becher's industrial photographs, with the same kind of austere beauty.