Boulder Dam, Arizona/Nevada, Verenigde Staten 1936

Here is a monochrome print of the Boulder Dam in Arizona/Nevada, made by Wouter Cool at an unknown date. I’m thinking about the exchange between human-made structures and the natural world, especially a dam that holds so much water. It looks solid, but I wonder, what was it like to take this photo? Was he waiting for a spill? He would have thought about the composition, waiting to capture the light just right. The angle, the shadows…it’s all about capturing that perfect moment. You see the texture of the concrete, the way it reflects the sun? The smooth curve of the dam against the jagged rocks of the landscape? Those contrasts create an emotional resonance. It makes me consider what the artist was trying to say about the power of nature versus the ingenuity of human engineering. Maybe Wouter Cool was trying to communicate this balance, a balance between control and surrender.