The King and the Passersby | Nieuwpoort, Belgium

I took this photograph from the top of the Albert I Monument, looking down at the statue of King Albert I while two visitors walked away between the columns. The two small figures gave the monument scale and completed the composition.

I went to Westfront Nieuwpoort to see the Bieke Depoorter exhibition, which brings together three of her projects: The Line, Blinked Myself Awake, and The Beds I Slept In. The exhibition was very good, but I became just as fascinated by the museum and the monument itself.

Westfront tells the story of the Ganzepoot and the flooding of the Yser plain during the First World War. By opening the sluices in October 1914, they flooded a large area, stopping the German advance. It explains why this place played such an important role during the war.

When you visit a museum like this, it is difficult to understand why history keeps repeating itself. We supposedly learned from two world wars, but Korea, Vietnam, and the many conflicts that followed showed how quickly those lessons were forgotten. Today, we are again watching wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Yemen, while some world leaders continue to use language that divides people and encourages confrontation rather than peace. Different periods and different circumstances, of course, but often the same dangerous patterns. Perhaps that is exactly why places such as Westfront remain so important.