Bezoek aan de Sint-Bavokerk te Haarlem 1930

Curator: Berti Hoppe's 1930 gelatin silver print, titled "Bezoek aan de Sint-Bavokerk te Haarlem," captures a view of the Grote Kerk, or Saint Bavo Church in Haarlem. Editor: Immediately, the composition strikes me. It’s three separate photographs arranged within the album itself. The varying perspectives give it a multifaceted feel, as if Hoppe is encouraging us to experience the space from multiple angles. Curator: Indeed, there's a triptych quality achieved, almost as if mimicking a traditional altarpiece format. But consider how Hoppe’s medium affects our reading. The gray scale and crisp details emphasize structure. I find my eye lingering on the linear patterns formed by the architecture. Editor: Yet the symbolism! Saint Bavo is, of course, the patron saint of Haarlem. The imposing facade—the scale—visually communicates power. The building dwarfs the human figures; one immediately gets a sense of scale within both cityscapes. Curator: The use of gelatin silver printing intensifies tonal variations, providing crisp details to the lines of architecture, heightening contrasts within and across compositions. Note also how our sightlines draw towards each photograph’s distinct vanishing point; together, they establish an almost polyfocal composition. Editor: Those receding arches inside the church definitely echo spiritual yearning, while simultaneously underscoring the visual prowess of the building itself! It is about how faith inspires the grandeur of architecture, but also the place's significance as an urban icon. Curator: So, the structural elegance complements its iconic resonance, suggesting a union of visual and conceptual values within the whole presentation. Editor: This photograph gives us glimpses into 1930s Harlem, and the continuing importance of Saint Bavo in that visual context. The photo album styling also turns an individual snapshot into a collective experience across place and time. Curator: Precisely. And it reveals how the city's essence and the artist's intention interlock to form what may rightly be regarded as an indexical record. A record that frames not only the city but moreover what we bring when we look to such constructions.