Kijkje in onze oude montagehal aan de Gatottan ... 1923

This anonymous photograph captures the interior of a machine factory, a montagehal, a moment frozen in time. I imagine the photographer, maybe an engineer, carefully setting up their camera amidst the hulking shapes of the metal machines. They're trying to capture the scale of the place, the imposing nature of the industry, and the precision of engineering. The light floods in from the roof, casting sharp shadows that define the forms. There’s something beautiful in the rough textures and rigid lines of the factory that reminds me of some modernist paintings, but with a dose of melancholy. Think of the cool, distant industrial scenes of Charles Sheeler or the early, pre-pop, factory-based works of Andy Warhol. It’s amazing how a photograph like this makes you think about the human element, the workers who operated these machines, the ingenuity, and the labor that went into building a modern world. It’s a scene of industrial life, captured with a stark and powerful simplicity. It reminds me that art isn't just about beauty, but about witnessing the world around us.