On a Sunday morning, while visiting my daughter in Brussels, Belgium, I had the opportunity to get out, explore, and make some photos.
After some research, I found the Abbaye du Rouge Cloître on the forest edge, southeast of Brussels. Up before dawn, I set off in that direction.
I wandered through the abbey grounds until I located my first subject, the Prior’s House.
The Prior’s House, constructed in the late 14th century, is the only surviving wing of the original abbey. The upper level housed the canons’ dormitories. The ground level was the prior’s lodgings, the chapter house, and the sacristy, which led through to the church. In the late 18th century, designers added a neo-classical pediment to the facade.
The southern side of the building has a series of reflecting ponds fed by the Étang du Moulin (mill pond).
I created a composition to frame the Prior’s House reflecting into the waters. The square aspect ratio best presents my experience that morning.
On the right side of this photo, connected to the Prior’s House, sat a 16th-century Gothic Church. The church incorporated parts of the original church from the 14th century. Elegant buttresses supported the high walls of this single-nave hall church. In 1805, they set up a spinning mill up in the building, which was destroyed by a fire a year later.
I created a short video to share my experience from that morning. You can view it on YouTube HERE.
