Diablo Dam en Skagit River, Washington [staat], Verenigde Staten 1936

Wouter Cool made this photograph of the Diablo Dam on the Skagit River, in Washington, and it’s like a study in contrasts. The image is a black and white photograph and it's really about the push and pull between the rigid, man-made structure of the dam, and the chaotic, organic rush of the water. The dam itself is all straight lines and sharp angles, a real feat of engineering, and then you see the water just exploding over it, a torrent of raw power. I find myself drawn to the way the water crashes against the rocks at the base of the dam. You can almost feel the force of it, and it's pretty impressive, right? This work reminds me a little of some of the early landscape photographers, like Carleton Watkins, who were also capturing the American West, even though Cool's version has this industrial twist. It's like a record, but one with poetry.