Ariel Dam, Washington [staat], Verenigde Staten: rotor van de Francis turbine 1936

Editor: Here we have a 1936 photograph of the rotor of a Francis turbine at the Ariel Dam in Washington State. The contact print feels very monumental in its stark, geometric realism. What do you make of this imposing image? Curator: I'm struck by how this image elevates the machine, turning it into a sort of modern-day deity. Consider the date, 1936. What might this symbol have meant to people then, during the Depression? What aspirations were tied to such massive technologies? Editor: So, the turbine itself is a symbol of…hope? Progress? Curator: Perhaps both. Turbines convert energy into power, of course, so this also relates to strength. There is also something almost church-like here. It resembles the spokes of a huge gothic window… perhaps that explains the scale? The engineers who designed and constructed it seem appropriately reverent in their postures. It invites questions about humankind's relationship with nature and the power we harness from it. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered – the religious symbolism embedded in industrial technology. So the aesthetic presentation and how humans relate to the structure itself conveys hope during hard times. Curator: Exactly. Symbols aren’t static; their meanings shift and evolve depending on who is viewing them and when. What does this photograph make you consider? Editor: It definitely changes how I see these structures—as not just metal and engineering but as carriers of collective dreams and memories, which has given me much to reflect on!