Gezicht op de Lekpoort te Vianen c. 1890 - 1920

This gelatin silver print, titled "Gezicht op de Lekpoort te Vianen," captures a scene of the Lekpoort in Vianen. It's an architectural portrait, really, fixing in time the face of a building, a gate, a slice of city life. I’m thinking about the anonymous photographer and what they saw when they pointed the camera. How many times did they walk around the same streets, the same monuments, deciding what the right framing would be? What caught their eye? The light? The texture of the brick? The way the archway frames the space beyond? Think about the quiet patience involved in setting up the shot, waiting for the right moment, capturing the essence of this place. There’s a stillness, an openness, that makes the work feel timeless. Maybe that’s what they were after, too. A way to keep this gate standing forever. We're all just trying to capture a bit of time, aren't we?