Beverly Hills, Hollywood, California, Verenigde Staten: uitzicht vanuit een rijdende auto 1936

This photograph, "Beverly Hills, Hollywood, California, Verenigde Staten: uitzicht vanuit een rijdende auto," captures a street scene through the lens of Wouter Cool. The image itself speaks to the rise of consumer culture and mobility in the early 20th century. Photography, as a relatively accessible medium, democratized image-making, yet the subject here, the automobile, represents industrial progress and a certain level of affluence. The black and white tones emphasize the contrast between the sleek machine and the natural landscape of palm trees, subtly highlighting the intrusion of manufactured objects into the environment. The composition, taken from the driver's perspective, pulls us into the act of consumption and leisure, inviting us to consider our own relationship to these themes, and to the photographer's act of framing them. How does this mechanized view relate to hand-made processes, and how do these choices change our view of this street?