Photograph taken by amateur photographer Hector Dehaeck. Dehaeck was active in the first half of the last century and captured a variety of subjects including events, accidents, weddings and rural life, as well as a series of unique images of Roesbrugge (just behind the front lines) during World War I. Dehaeck was born in Roesbrugge in 1886. It was only after World War I that he moved to Ypres. By trade, he was a baker (he was also a renowned pastry chef known for his delicious bakes), but his true passion lay in photography. He was a sort of proto-photojournalist. The Dehaeck family donated his archive (glass plates and negatives) to the Ieper City Archives in 2012.
The library of the Ruusbroec Society looks considerably more modern today, with the old prints and manuscripts stored in a warehouse. Only these photographs remain of the old library.
At the library of the Ruusbroec Society, efforts are underway to digitise the extensive collection of prints. Many of our glass plates appear to have served the same purpose: to reproduce and make this collection of prints more accessible. Here is an example of such a print: Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order.