Herbouw van het Kasteel van Wijchen 1908

This photograph, titled Herbouw van het Kasteel van Wijchen, was taken in June 1908 by an anonymous photographer working for Monumentenzorg. Look at the way the scaffolding engulfs the castle, like a drawing in space. You can almost feel the hands of the builders as they work to rebuild this structure. The texture here is so raw. The eye jumps between the rough wood of the scaffolding and the solid stone of the castle, a real back-and-forth that keeps the image alive. It makes you think about the physicality of making, about how things are built and rebuilt, bit by bit. Check out how the light hits the top of the tower, it’s as if the photographer were as interested in the process of rebuilding as in the bricks themselves! There’s something about this photo that reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photos of industrial buildings. Just like them, this photo looks at how structures tell stories about work, time, and change. It's a quiet, thoughtful look at how we shape our world.