Netherlands Van der Velde Book Store, Zwolle

Van der Velde in de Broeren is one of Zwolle’s most unusual interiors: a modern bookstore built inside the monumental Broerenkerk, a late-Gothic former Dominican monastery church dating from around 1500. The building has housed a bookstore since 2013, with a multi-level structure inserted into the historic church while leaving the original architecture clearly visible.

One of its most impressive features is the collection of historic paintings across the vaulted ceilings, which you can view up close from the bookstore’s upper level.

I took this photo with a wide-angle lens from the upper level, which is probably the best place to capture the contrast between the modern bookstore and the historic church architecture. From here, you can use the large Gothic arch as a natural frame while looking down onto the colorful rows of books.

Try to keep the camera as level as possible to preserve the strong symmetry and avoid excessive distortion of the vertical lines. The interior has a fairly large difference in brightness between the illuminated bookstore and upper vaults, so slightly underexposing helps retain details in the brighter areas.

The bookstore is located at Achter de Broeren 1–3, right in the historic center of Zwolle. It fits easily into a walking tour of the city center, and you can enter and explore its different floors.

For this particular composition, make sure to walk all the way to the upper level. Beyond the elevated view of the bookshelves, this floor brings you remarkably close to the historic ceiling paintings, making it worth visiting even without a camera.