Ruïne Merum te Herten, Limburg 1900 - 1930

This photograph of Ruïne Merum in Herten, Limburg, has an anonymous maker, so we can only guess at the choices they made in its production. I like the fact that its maker is listed as ‘Monumentenzorg’ - it suggests a process that is collaborative, documentary, and perhaps even a little accidental. The photograph's muted tones and grainy texture really emphasize the ruin’s imposing presence, a solid structure in apparent contrast to its state of decay. Look at how the ivy creeps up the walls, softening its hard edges. You can almost feel the weight of time bearing down on the stone. There’s a figure standing in front of the ruin, possibly for scale, possibly as another process of documentation. It reminds me a little of the work of Eugène Atget, who documented the architecture of Paris at the turn of the last century. But while Atget sought to capture a vanishing world, this photograph seems to revel in the ruin's enduring strength, maybe even a sense of renewal. It's a reminder that art, like life, is an ongoing process of change and transformation, and maybe a little destruction is part of that.