Toren van de Walfriduskerk te Bedum 1911

This photograph of the Walfriduskerk tower in Bedum, made by an anonymous photographer for Monumentenzorg, it’s like a hushed conversation with the past. The sepia tones are so restrained, almost faded, yet they give the brickwork a weighty presence, each block defined by subtle shifts in tone. It's incredible when art can reflect on itself like this, to talk to each other. The photographer gives an impression of the texture of the brick in the tower's surface. Look at the vertical stains running down the tower’s facade, traces of time and weather, or maybe ghosts of the builders themselves? These subtle lines suggest a history of endurance, a sort of quiet rebellion against the idea of perfection. It reminds me a little bit of Agnes Martin's grids, except here, time is the artist. I'm thinking of Bernd and Hilla Becher, those German photographers who documented industrial structures. Like them, this photograph finds beauty and poetry in something ordinary. It’s a testament to how art can reveal the extraordinary within the everyday, turning the mundane into something profound.