Galerij met machines op de Exposition Nationale van 1880 in Brussel, België 1880

Ferdinand Fussen captured this photograph of the ‘Galerij met machines op de Exposition Nationale’ in Brussels in 1880, a time of great industrial advancement in Europe. The photograph documents the National Exposition, a spectacle of the industrial revolution. The grand hall, filled with row upon row of new machines, offers us a glimpse into the 19th century’s fascination with progress, technology and production. Yet, these machines also speak to a changing social order and the shifting identities of the working class. New technologies promised progress but also brought forth new forms of labor and the alienation of the worker. What does it mean to have your labor replaced by a machine? Where does one find dignity when faced with redundancy? Fussen’s photograph, though seemingly a neutral record of the event, invites us to consider the complex social and emotional landscape of the industrial age. It captures a moment of both hope and anxiety about the future. It is in this tension that we can appreciate the social, cultural, and personal implications of technological advancement.