Gezicht op de oude Sint-Ignatiuskerk te Nijmegen 1890 - 1920

This photograph captures the old Sint-Ignatiuskerk in Nijmegen, made by an anonymous photographer from Monumentenzorg. It’s a study in taupe, like the world drained of color. The architecture is the real subject. The surface has this ethereal quality. It's hard to tell what the actual texture of the building is like, everything is softened and muted. The building looms large and yet the details are vague. Your eye is drawn to the many windows, cut into the side like so many eyes staring blankly, as if history has been caught in the act of staring, looking back. I’m reminded of the photographs of Eugène Atget, who documented the architecture of Paris at the turn of the century. Both artists share a dedication to capturing the beauty and strangeness of the everyday world, finding poetry in the play of light and shadow. It's not about answers, but about embracing the questions.