Gezicht op een woning in afbraak te Den Haag 1902

This sepia photograph captures a building being demolished in The Hague, sometime around 1902. Look at the way the light renders the scene. It's about a softness, a gentle decay. The image feels like a memory, a process of erasure. You see the way the building is being taken apart, piece by piece. It's not violent, but rather methodical. Like sifting through the layers of time. The monochromatic palette adds to this sense of fading, like an old photograph found in an attic. It makes me think about the nature of change and impermanence. How everything is always in flux, being built up and torn down. It's a bit like painting, isn't it? Adding and subtracting, building up layers only to scrape them away. This reminds me of the work of Gordon Matta-Clark, who also explored themes of architectural deconstruction. Both invite us to consider the hidden beauty in the process of disintegration.