Interieur de afgebrande Hervormde Kerk te Harmelen 1900

This photograph captures the interior of the burnt-out Reformed Church in Harmelen. Its monochrome palette and sharp focus creates an unsettling contrast between the church’s original architectural form and its current state of decay. The composition emphasizes verticality through the skeletal remains of arches and windows, drawing our eyes upward. The photograph’s power lies in its stark depiction of absence. The fire has stripped away layers of meaning, leaving behind a hollow structure. This can be understood through the lens of semiotics, where the church once signified community, faith and permanence, it now presents a disruption of these values. What we are left with is not just a building but a symbol of loss. The photograph destabilizes the church's intended function. It challenges our expectations of sacred spaces and invites reflection on what happens when structures of meaning collapse, leaving us with an image that speaks to the ephemerality of human endeavors.