Oostzijde van de Petruskerk te Zuidbroek 1907

This photograph of the Oostzijde van de Petruskerk te Zuidbroek was made by an anonymous member of Monumentenzorg. Look at the patterns made by the brickwork, the way it shifts in direction on the facade. It’s like a textile or a painting, where the artist is thinking about how one mark relates to the next. It’s a conversation in material. The photograph itself has aged like the brick, and it’s hard to know if it was always sepia toned, or if that’s come with age. The grainy surface reminds me of the way that Chuck Close would build an image out of tiny abstract squares. And then the grave stones in the foreground—it’s like the building is watching over them, or remembering them. It reminds me of Renger-Patzsch, but with more feeling. Maybe art is just about feeling your way into these kinds of relationships, mark by mark, brick by brick, year by year.