Port of Ghent

To make dynamic views of the Port of Ghent, Nikolai Kossikoff took an acrobatic approach, scaling ships and machinery with a cumbersome view camera in tow. As he recalled in his autobiography, "It was a strange experience when the crane I was on started to swing to the right, as if it was trying to shake me off! But I loved the sport and was fascinated by the result…" Such risks paid off, yielding oblique perspectives that dramatize the activity of the shipyard. This photograph was conceived as the cover design for a 1935 annual report about the harbor—a publication circulated among business executives and layman investors. The 1935 report was of particular importance, coinciding with a transportation-themed international expo in Brussels, as well as a planned dock expansion project poised to increase the port’s international traffic. With these new international clients in mind, Kossikoff montages the title text across the image in four languages. His angular composition evokes movement along an active canal, transporting the eye as effectively as any other commodity.