Toren van de Hervormde Kerk te Stolwijk 1904

This photograph of the Toren van de Hervormde Kerk te Stolwijk, was made by Monumentenzorg. It seems so process-oriented; the church steeple is swaddled in scaffolding, undergoing repair. You can tell it was taken a long time ago because of the sepia tone. It gives the whole thing a feeling of history and slow time. I really like how the church is shown in the midst of its process. It's like the photograph itself is a document of change, of making. I notice the way the scaffolding forms a kind of grid against the conical steeple. The shapes are all so angular and straight, which I think really underlines the organic feeling of the trees and bushes at the bottom of the image. The way photography can capture the architecture as a process reminds me of the work of Gordon Matta-Clark, who would cut chunks out of buildings. It's cool how buildings are remade as new forms emerge from old ones. Anyway, it's not about fixing or solidifying something, but about allowing for something new to emerge, about a continuing history.