Poland The Chapel

The light poured in from holes in the roof and filled it like an amphitheatre of light, I am not religious but it felt godly, ethereal and heavenly. After photographing the lower level, I took a death climb to the highest level of the chapel, with parts of the stairs falling in and only the wooden beams left on the top level I had to balance precariously with one foot on one beam the other on the other beam and a pure drop of two floors of air below, the beams felt sturdy though, which made the whole experience a little less terrifying I propped my tripod against the front of the middle circle of wood, it wasn’t ideal, but there certainly wasn’t any more places for legs to go up there. 

The view was so stunning from there, I stood for a few moments to take it all in a fleeting moment.
‘The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.’
– Henri Cartier-Bresson 

In 2013 I returned to the chapel, this time we spent more time taking photos and this time we ran around kicking up the dust to get some magnificent light beams in the photos.The protestant chapel was built around 1796 by by Carl Langhans Gottard, who also designed the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Inside the chapel it is absolutely breathtaking, one of those locations that you walk into and it completely takes your breath away, a beautiful organ, a domed roof, balconies all around in an oval and once there was crystal chandeliers, white floors and an organ. 

Since 1945 with the end of World War II when the area was given back to Poland, they were mainly Catholic so they did not use the churches used by the Germans and built there own. It was common after the war for graves to be opened and everything of value has been taken from the chapel as they were very poor. The chapel has been abandoned for many years although it had been made into a place to keep the sheep, but now it is left to decay.