Tandwiel Possibly 1937

This vintage photograph shows a gearwheel made by Machinefabriek Braat, captured on film in Soerabaia, Indonesia, in March 1937. I really love the way the photographer has composed the scene so that the massive gearwheel dominates, and the man standing next to it looks tiny. You can almost feel the weight of the metal and the power of the machine. You know, I often think about how artists and photographers are so similar. They're both trying to capture a moment in time, to freeze it and make it last forever. With the advent of industrial manufacturing, our world began to accelerate, and the documentary image became increasingly important. This photograph is a slice of time but it is also so current as the world grapples with the legacies of colonization and the effects of mechanization. I am in awe of the people who work with machinery, making and using it. There is a deep artistic practice in this. We see the relationship to the earth in the materials used, as much as the people who made the gearwheel and took the photograph. It’s a good reminder of the things we make that will long outlive us.