Klokkentoren van de kerk Saint-Étienne te Vernouillet c. 1875 - 1900

Editor: So this photograph is called “Klokkentoren van de kerk Saint-Étienne te Vernouillet” by Médéric Mieusement, placing it around 1875-1900. It’s quite striking, the spire reaching upwards. The symmetry is beautiful. What draws your eye when you look at this? Curator: It is indeed compelling, isn’t it? This image is far more than just a picture of architecture. The spire, historically a symbol of aspiration, points us quite literally toward the heavens. Do you sense the tension between the solid materiality of the stone, its earthly origins, against that upward, ethereal reach? Editor: I do, actually. It’s like the building is trying to transcend itself. What does that tension tell us? Curator: I find the material and formal tension profoundly telling about the society that created it. The late 19th century was a period of enormous social change in Europe. Urbanisation, the industrial revolution… Do you see how the photographer isolates the spire, setting aside its immediate urban context? It evokes a yearning for a simpler time, a time when spiritual life was thought to take precedence over industrial progress. Editor: So it's a symbol of cultural memory almost? Holding on to something as everything changes around it? Curator: Precisely! Consider how church towers also functioned as watchtowers, both physically and spiritually guarding the community. In a rapidly modernising world, what is being guarded here? Is it faith? Is it tradition? Is it both? And, what does it tell us that this moment is captured through the modern marvel of photography? Editor: I hadn't thought about that - the choice of photography to preserve something seemingly ancient. It gives you a lot to think about! Curator: Indeed. This image invites us to ponder the ongoing dialogue between past and present, permanence and change. Editor: Thank you; seeing it that way makes a big difference. It really brings out how photography captures more than the surface.