Zuiderzeewerken: Bouw van een schutsluis (links) en uitwateringssluizen nabij Den Oever 10 sept. 1928 Possibly 1928 - 1929

This photograph of the Zuiderzee Works, taken near Den Oever in 1928 by the Fototechnische Dienst K.L.M., is a testament to human intervention, a reshaping of the landscape itself. I look at this image and can only imagine what the photographer might have been thinking as they captured this scene. The photograph has a muted palette, almost monochrome, which gives the image an enduring quality that transcends time. The lines are strikingly angular, cutting through the water. The structure is so severe, it is as if the land is being tamed, made to conform to human will. The scene is industrial but its vastness is so dreamlike. I can relate this to the work of other artists who capture the sublime in the mundane, like the Bechers’ photographs of industrial structures. Thinking about our conversation with each other through art, I wonder how this photograph speaks to future generations. I think about the changing climate and how we are constantly reshaping the land.