Boerderij in de Wieringermeer na onderwaterzetting 1945 - 1946

This gelatin silver print shows us a barn in Wieringermeer after it was flooded; Charles Breijer made it. I look at this black-and-white image and try to imagine what it might have been like to stand there, facing such destruction. The barn, with its gaping holes and sagging roof, feels vulnerable, exposed. You can almost feel the weight of the water that caused this devastation. I mean, the artist would have had to find the right point of view, which, of course, changes everything. A low angle looking up, for example, might make the building seem monumental. But no, here we are, eye-to-eye with its ruins. There's a quiet stillness here, too, as people begin to clear up. And like so much photography, it's the composition that creates meaning from chaos, an organization of a moment that someone witnessed. It invites us to reflect on resilience, the ability to rebuild and carry on in the face of adversity, a dialogue that continues through the simple act of seeing and remembering.