Lichtzuilen op het Damrak bij het Victoriahotel tijdens de Edison Lichtweek Amsterdam, 1929 1929

This is a photograph by Bernard Eilers, taken in 1929, documenting the light columns on the Damrak during Amsterdam’s Edison Light Week. The whole scene is a study in contrasts, black and white – light and dark. It’s about how the modern world was changing, literally illuminating the old. You can see this play in the textures, too. There's a slickness to the water reflecting the light, versus the solidity of the buildings. This square, boxy streetlamp is doing all the work up front, yet, its glow is diffused, unlike the sharp reflections in the water or the pinpoint lights in the distance. I see a reference to Atget here, as well as the later work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Like them, Eilers embraces a certain objectivity, but also shares a fascination with the modern world and its relationship to history. And yet, with Eilers, nothing is ever so easily pinned down. We are left in the dark – literally and figuratively – to find our own way.