Bogen van de Ridderzaal tijdens de restauratie 1901

This photograph shows the arches of the Ridderzaal during restoration, a kind of beige, sepia-toned image from a bygone era. I love thinking about what the artist might have been experiencing, perched somewhere among the scaffolding, trying to capture the bones of a building being brought back to life. The light is diffuse, soft, and the arches are worn, imperfect, each brick bearing the weight of history. You can almost smell the dust and feel the grit under your feet. It makes me think about the layers of time, how restoration is itself a kind of creative act. Each photo is a gesture, a decision, a way of seeing. It's not about perfection, but about capturing a moment. It reminds me of the raw honesty in some of outsider art, where the process of making is as important as the final image. Artists, whether we're painters or photographers, we're all in this ongoing conversation, reacting, responding, and adding our own marks to the world.