It is with great pleasure to bring you the next instalment of my photography journey. Kanaal (2018) is a series of images captured aloft of the various canals and waterways above the IJssel river in Overijssel, The Netherlands.
For the last year or so, I have spent my time building and developing a portfolio in a whole new way. I quickly became infatuated with the countryside landscape, especially the forests carving the canal edges. Canals just like the ones captured in this series makeup 17% of the countries space.
It's no news that The Netherlands is built around a megachain of canals. It quickly became apparent to me that even though the majority of these waterways are man-made and managed, nothing can overcome the true power of nature where it's true strength can ebb and flow, shape and mould the landscape on its own. In one of the flattest regions on earth where a lot of the country sits below sea level, your eye often shoots across consistent views struggling to focus on anything close or afar. Once you're above these inspiring plains, you begin to appreciate how traverse even the most harmonious landscapes can be from a reverse viewing platform.
When I have an idea, I always spend time building and collecting sets of images that go together to communicate a clear message. Sometimes this can take days, another times years. Well, this one indeed has taken me some time, however, I am extremely happy with the results!
Photo: Arc1
This is my first series of images from above that was specifically captured by a drone. Although I have been using drones for a while now, I simply wasn't sure what it was exactly what I wanted to share from above.
For those of you who are interested in what camera equipment I use including the drone, I used to capture this portfolio you can see my article on what's in my bag, here.
The Netherlands as pictured below is made up of over 1.2 million canals, rivers and streams, and over 120,000 lakes and ponds. This map contains over 70,000 km of canals and rivers alone! These canals are plotted by size, from 0.5 to 6m wide. This should give you a very good idea of how important these waterways are to the countries ecosystem.
Map provided by Earth Art Australia
The Dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of natural disasters and human intervention. Throughout the centuries, the most notable land loss was during the storm of 1134, where the archipelago of Zeeland in the south-west. One can only dream of how this landscape might have been situated before hand.
Sustainability is a concept important for the Dutch. The goal is to have a sustainable, reliable and affordable energy system by 2050, in which CO2 emissions will be halved and 40% of electricity is obtained from sustainable sources.
It is anticipated that in the 21st-century global warming will result in a rise in sea level. The Netherlands is actively preparing for this very sea level rise. A Delta Commission has put their heads together and come up with an action plan to cope with a rise of 1.1m and a land height decline of 10cm. The plan reinforces the existing coastline structures such as the dikes and dunes with 1.3m of extra flood protection. This by no means solves the issues that are ahead, however, a band-aid approach to an on going problem.
Climate change will not only threaten The Netherlands from the seaside but could also alter rainfall patterns and river run-off across the region.
I hope you enjoyed this series and reading about it. If you're interested in these works, please visit my store below for Limited Edition prints.
Tim
