Noordzijde van de Dorpskerk te Poortugaal 1902

This photograph captures the north side of the village church in Poortugaal. It was taken by an anonymous photographer working for Monumentenzorg, who must have been thinking about how to document this structure. The soft, muted tones create a sense of stillness, almost as if time has stopped, and I think that is what the photographer was hoping for. I wonder if they wanted to evoke a mood, and preserve a moment of time. The large window is really something! You can see how light streams in and casts shadows. It makes me feel like I’m standing there looking at it in real time. The photograph could be a painting. Just as painters use color and brushstrokes to capture a sense of depth and texture, here we have a beautiful gradation of tones to convey shape. The photographer is just another artist who sees the world from their own perspective and passes it on to us.