Gezicht op Union Square en het St. Francis Hotel na de aardbeving in San Francisco 1906

This stereo card by Tom M. Phillips, shows Union Square and the St. Francis Hotel after the San Francisco earthquake. It's fascinating how a photograph can function like a painting, capturing a specific moment but also revealing the process of its creation. The image is rendered in grayscale, the tones are soft and dusty, giving it a dreamlike quality. Look at the building on the left, with the sign promoting 'BURK' and 'SHOES'. The clarity of the sign contrasts sharply with the surrounding destruction, a ghostly reminder of the city's resilience. Photography, like painting, is about capturing a moment and about the process of making something new from what already exists. Like the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, these documents reflect both an industrial sensibility and a deeply human perspective. Ultimately, it's the imperfections and ambiguities that make it so compelling.