The route to St Quirinus by Arjan Warmerdam

In Langenfeld, in the Vordereifel, stands the imposing parish church of St Quirinus. The tall tower and the dark natural stone make the church photogenic in its own right, but for me, the power of this photograph lies in something much more ordinary: the white road marking in the foreground.

That line starts at the bottom of the frame and curves slightly towards the church. This almost automatically draws your gaze along it: first across the tarmac, then towards the building, and finally upwards along the tower to the spire. The road marking thus literally forms the link between the foreground and the subject.

That is precisely why I deliberately kept a relatively large section of the street in the frame. Without that foreground, it would mainly be a photo of a beautiful church. The bend in the road and the road marking create more depth and movement, giving the photo a clear direction of view.

St Quirinus Church fits in beautifully with the character of the Eifel. The dark brickwork, the tall spire and the robust architecture stand out sharply against the cloudy sky. In post-processing, I deliberately made the sky a little more dramatic. The cool tones in the clouds contrast with the warmer colours of the natural stone and give the whole scene a somewhat cinematic atmosphere.

What particularly appeals to me about this shot is how something as simple as a streak of paint on the tarmac ultimately becomes an important part of the composition. You’re not just looking at the church; you’re, as it were, guided towards it by the image. Sometimes, then, the power of a photograph lies not only in the subject, but above all in the line that leads you to it.