Gezicht op een kerk, mogelijk in Richmond Hill, Surrey, Engeland 1873 - 1879

Alfred Seeley made this photograph of what is thought to be a church in Richmond Hill, Surrey. Surrey, on the fringes of London, became a prosperous county in the 19th century, in part due to its position in the railway boom. In this image, Seeley presents a well-kept church, in a style recalling medieval parish churches. The image itself, by framing the church on a slight diagonal and including trees and a winding path, emphasizes the church as part of the natural and social landscape of the area. In Victorian England, a parish church was more than just a place of worship, it was a symbol of social order and the role of religion in the lives of the population. To understand more about the image, we can research the institutional history of the church itself. A photograph like this can tell us a great deal, but only when we put it in its proper historical, social and cultural context.