Gedeelte van de Sint-Laurentiuskerk te Oud Gastel 1899

This sepia photograph depicts part of the Sint-Laurentiuskerk in Oud Gastel and was produced by an anonymous photographer from Monumentenzorg, the Dutch heritage agency. Heritage agencies play an important role in the cultural life of many countries and exist to preserve buildings and monuments, which are deemed to be of national importance. This image, though created by an anonymous figure, speaks to a particular moment in the institutional history of the Netherlands, and the growing need to record and protect historical buildings. The photograph’s very style, devoid of aesthetic flourish, speaks to its function as an objective record. To better understand the photograph, it is important to ask questions about what it meant to document such buildings at this time. What threats did these buildings face, and what was the perceived public role of such buildings? These are questions that can be answered through a careful look at archives and institutional records.