Niagara Falls (Horse Shoe), Verenigde Staten/Canada 1936

Curator: Here we have a gelatin-silver print dating from 1936. The photographer, Wouter Cool, captured the majestic Niagara Falls, specifically the Horse Shoe Falls. What do you make of it? Editor: My first thought? Mystery! That mist rising… it's almost like looking into another dimension. All that water made permanent on a surface thanks to some fancy chemistry and physics. I wonder how cool’s contemporaries would have viewed a depiction of raw natural forces like this? Curator: Certainly, the "how" of its creation matters. The gelatin-silver process, popular then, allowed for sharp details and tonal range. Cool wasn’t just pointing a camera; he was manipulating materials to reveal this force of nature. There’s an intimacy in how photography could transform nature to almost capture a mood with a machine. Editor: And look at how that power is displayed. The scale is fantastic – tiny buildings nestled on the shorelines contrast that huge veil of water. I find that the inclusion of architecture in such a wild scene hints at an attempt to contextualize, to claim this power for us humans and our little lives, our consumption of resources, I suppose. Curator: A crucial observation! While the falls symbolize nature's overwhelming presence, those structures subtly suggest human control, an attempt to tame that spectacle for leisure. In essence, it is a study of both natural wonder and our inescapable footprint. But it remains stunning for how still he managed to make something so powerfully dynamic. How about that delicate tension? Editor: Totally, plus Cool created a document for posterity; with our modern focus on the sublime and picturesque. We must remember what resources and exploitation underpin so much of these iconic natural phenomena in both industry and artistry. From its source, right through its presentation and even to this piece. Curator: The photograph as a manufactured souvenir or commodity makes perfect sense. I will be thinking about it, but for now I am taking a trip! Thank you for all this. Editor: Happy to come with you. Thank *you*.