Recently acquired photographs

The Ypres Museum has a special collection of old photographs. All of them were taken in Ypres and the surrounding area, or by residents of Ypres themselves. Did you know that one of the oldest photographs preserved in our country is on display in the Ypres Museum? It is a daguerreotype by Pierre Spotbeen from 1844. Daguerreotypes are images on silver-plated copper plates. The process was purchased by the French state in 1839. A few years later, Ypres already had its first photographers.

You can see the end of a procession on Vandenpeereboomplein. In front of St. Martin's Church stands a temporary altar. At the bottom left, the dean arrives under a canopy with the Holy Sacrament, which he will place on the altar. In the background, you can see the entrance to St. Martin's Church. This is the oldest known photograph of Ypres and also one of the oldest photographs in Flanders.

View of the Grote Markt in Ypres, 1862-1863

A rare photograph by the well-known Brussels photographer Jules Géruzet. He visited Ypres regularly in 1862 and 1863. He set up a studio in the “De Kasselrij” hotel on the Grote Markt and took portrait photographs. Men paid twelve francs for a dozen portrait photographs. Curiously, ladies and children had to pay extra: sixty francs per dozen! Géruzet found some time to take this “classic” view of the Grote Markt from the south. You can see the “trinity” of Ypres on the horizon: the Cloth Hall, Nieuwerck and St. Martin's Church.

Portrait of Léonie-Silvie de Bruck from Ypres, before 22/12/1863

This young lady died on 22 December 1863. She was barely nineteen. Her photo is stuck on her prayer card, printed by Simon Lafonteyne in Ypres. The photo is not signed, but we can say with certainty that the photographer is her Ypres namesake, Pierre-Amand de Bruck (photographer and painter). The Ypres Museum still has a signed portrait photograph by him. It is a picture of an older couple posing in the same studio with the same pedestal on the right. The pedestal allowed the subjects to stand still for longer. The shutter speed was even longer back then. To get a sharp image, standing still was the order of the day!

Group photo “Blankenberghe-Ypres-Veurne”, before 1914

An anonymous photo of a large group of girls. On the left we see a group from Blankenberge, on the right from Veurne. In the middle are the girls from Ypres. They are all beautifully dressed, most likely for a procession or parade.