In 1894, Belgian photographer - entrepreneur Lieven Gevaert established his photographic paper company, Gevaert & Cie, in Antwerp. Ten years later, he moved his flourishing business to Mortsel, a quiet suburb just south of the city. Like the Kodak factory established by George Eastman in Rochester, Gevaert’s modest manufacturing operations grew exponentially at the beginning of the twentieth century in response to the rapidly increasing demand for his films and papers, from both amateurs and professionals. Also like Eastman, Gevaert was ambitious, innovative, and a visionary. After merging with the German company Agfa in 1964, his sprawling complex expanded again to become the largest photographic company in Europe, and a strong competitor of Kodak.

While Gevaert’s history is still reflected in the smaller brick structures that date from the company’s early years, these low-rise buildings are now dwarfed by enormous white, windowless coating facilities dedicated to the mass production of photographic film in darkened spaces. During the latter half of the twentieth century, society found more uses for photographic film than either Gevaert or Eastman could have ever imagined. The demand did not last. By the time this photograph was made, the consumer division of the company, AgfaPhoto, located in nearby Leverkusen, Germany, had declared bankruptcy; in 2004, it shut down its factory and laid off all its employees. Agfa - Gevaert lives on in Mortsel, but is now limited to making specialized medical and aerial films, in buildings on the verge of outliving their own usefulness.