Overzicht van den Dagbouw Koollaag A2 bij Tunnel 8. Op den achtergrond het compressorenhuis 1921 - 1922

This photograph, "Overzicht van den Dagbouw Koollaag A2 bij Tunnel 8. Op den achtergrond het compressorenhuis", lives at the Rijksmuseum. It's a world of sepia tones, like memory itself, with details emerging from a smoky haze. The texture of the photograph itself – its grain and tonal range – is crucial here. The softness contrasts with the harsh subject. Look at the middle ground where the industrial building is. There is a soft cloud of dust or smoke obscuring its base. The geometric building contrasts with the organic billowing cloud, the geometric with the formless. For me, this image is reminiscent of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose typologies of industrial structures share a similar formal approach. Like the Bechers, this photograph suggests the beauty and ambiguity of these scenes, inviting us to contemplate the multiple layers of meaning embedded within them.