Rijnbrug 1940 - 1945

This photograph, Rijnbrug, of a bridge was made by an anonymous artist. It's interesting to think about how the process of photography involves making an image and capturing light but also documenting a real thing in the world. The photograph's focus on texture, from the smooth water reflecting the bridge to the rough, splintered wood of the destroyed supports, creates an emotional push and pull. The way the bridge has collapsed creates a feeling of unease, like things are falling apart, yet there's also a strange beauty in the geometry of the fallen structure. There’s a striking contrast between the sturdy, engineered parts of the bridge and the chaotic disarray of the collapsed section. I find that contrast really interesting because it captures the tension between order and disorder, control and chaos, that is so fundamental to art making and, well, life itself. I'm reminded of Robert Smithson's idea of entropy and the way things inevitably decay and fall apart. It's a reminder that everything is temporary, and nothing lasts forever.