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

This photograph of Diablo Dam on the Skagit River, Washington, was taken by Wouter Cool sometime in the first half of the 20th century. You can see the weight of the concrete and the almost violent rush of water pouring over the dam’s edge. I can only imagine what it must have been like standing there, trying to capture this feat of engineering. Cool was likely thinking about how to balance the monumentality of the dam with the river’s raw power. The contrast between the smooth, man-made structure and the churning water creates a really interesting tension. The eye goes back and forth between them. This image reminds me of other works by photographers who were interested in industry and infrastructure at this time. It speaks to our ongoing fascination with controlling and harnessing nature, something that artists keep circling back to again and again. I find this picture full of the sublime, where nature and human intention meet.