Drie mannen buiten bij tafel met lampen c. 1855 - 1870

This old photograph by Charles Segoffin presents a glimpse into the daily life of lamplighters. These men, surrounded by their tools of light—ladders, lamps, and cleaning equipment—occupy a space both mundane and profoundly symbolic. Light, since antiquity, has been a powerful motif, representing knowledge, hope, and divinity, and it has been central to human progress. One cannot help but think of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods, endowing humanity with enlightenment but also eternal toil. The lamps here echo that sentiment; while they banish darkness, they also tie these men to an endless cycle of labor. Consider how often light appears as a symbol across cultures—the halo in religious art, the torch of liberty, the lamp in alchemic illustrations. The act of tending to these lamps, then, is not merely work, but a ritual, a preservation of something vital. It is in this image, that we see light not just as illumination, but as a potent, ever-evolving symbol, deeply rooted in our collective consciousness.