Verwoeste huizen in Oosterweel na de ontploffing van een munitiefabriek op 6 september 1889 Possibly 1885 - 1889

Curator: This photograph by L. van Neck, likely taken between 1885 and 1889, is titled "Verwoeste huizen in Oosterweel na de ontploffing van een munitiefabriek op 6 september 1889." It’s a gelatin-silver print, showing the aftermath of a devastating explosion. Editor: Well, first glance—bleak! But compelling. There's something deeply unsettling about those collapsed roofs and skeletal structures against the stillness of the scene. A silent scream in silver halide, you know? It’s history fossilized in an image. Curator: Exactly! There's a stillness, yes, but also a profound disruption. These ruins become symbols themselves. Consider the bare roof trusses. It becomes a chilling image speaking of fragility, destruction but in that state they become signifiers that transcends any specific time, any single catastrophic event, really becoming universal motifs of loss. Editor: Yes, those rafters reaching skyward, almost like pleading arms. You can almost smell the acrid smoke. This photo evokes something primeval, perhaps like witnessing aftermath of a biblical cataclysm? Think about what "home" means when the roof is gone. Curator: And notice the placement of the single standing window frame like a cyclopean eye staring. The picture then reminds of collective cultural trauma, passed down and reformed into common and personal anxieties. Editor: And yet, amidst all the desolation, look at how that thin, almost decorative fence somehow clings to existence, and so becomes another kind of metaphor... Maybe this image asks us how much chaos humanity can take? Curator: I believe so. The realism combined with these layered readings…makes this image far more than just a historical record. What do you take from this now, considering its symbolism? Editor: I take a need to appreciate what is solid and durable but maybe more importantly I remember we all have an overwhelming human will to rebuild and carry on. I also feel sadness, as if bearing witness to profound shock.