Zuidzijde van de Sint-Bavokerk te Aardenburg 1909

This photograph of the south side of the Sint-Bavokerk in Aardenburg was taken by an anonymous photographer working for Monumentenzorg. It's like the photographer embraced a visual kind of shorthand, focusing on the formal qualities of the building. The image is full of subtle tonal variations, rendering the brickwork and architectural details with a delicate gradations of light and shadow. See how the texture of the brick catches the light? It’s almost tactile. And how that single vertical line of shadow, to the right of the tower, separates one plane from another and creates depth. It reminds me a little of some of the early modernist architectural photography of someone like Bernd and Hilla Becher. Both share this interest in the simple repetition of form and structural integrity over grand artistic statements. Ultimately, it’s this embrace of clarity that makes it such a compelling image.