Gezicht op de Dorpskerk te Poortugaal 1902

This photograph of the village church in Poortugaal was made using traditional photographic processes. The image, captured on a light-sensitive plate, shows the church under repair. The ladder, a key element in the scene, speaks volumes about labor and the act of building. Its presence highlights the physical effort required to maintain such structures. We can almost feel the weight of the wood, the grip of hands climbing to mend the church. The photograph captures not just the building, but the traces of human effort, the unseen hands that shape our environment. This image reminds us that architecture, often seen as grand and permanent, is in fact the result of countless individual actions, each brick laid, each repair made. Appreciating the photograph means acknowledging the labor and the materials that give the church its form and its history.