Wotsa

At night at the lake

2008-12-09T22:36:00.002+01:00

While we were staying at the lakes of Gedinne, it was some excellent weather to take some night shots at these lakes. There was some fog, some moon light.. all in all beautiful to be out.

Adoption program

2008-09-21T00:15:00.004+02:00

While on vacation trip through the Voeren (a region in Belgium), we encountered this ceremony on one of the huge American burial sites for the soldiers of the world war.

To this day every year there is a ceremony to celebrate new adoption-parents of one of the graves of unknown soldiers. I was astounded by how much it still lives within the community. Schools were participating in it.

Or to quote one of the inhabitants: "If it was your son buried there, wouldn't it comfort you to know that some people still care for him, especially if you don't know where he is buried."

To honor them..

Night photography

2008-08-27T20:34:00.004+02:00

Night photography is a newly discovered part of photography for me. Usually you'll see be told that the golden hour or the blue hour are the best to shoot. While this are very nice hours to shoot light wise, night photography has a place of its own.

Night photography starts about one hour after the sun has set.. so no blue hour. Does this mean it's dark out there.. yes and no. The world is not half as dark as you think at night. Especially in Belgium, with all our artificial lights out there.

And this is where it gets interesting.. the moon, the stars and all the artificial lights create a wonderful and colorful combination.

Let me start with the moon.. it is in essence reflected sun-light, so while it might look very 'white' it does have some warm qualities to it. So when you shoot with long closure times, the world will not look blueish cold when the moon is out, but nicely warm.

The stars are specks in the sky, which due to longer exposure times become lines on your shot. The earth is constantly turning and this is where it shows.

The artificial lights in Belgium are mostly orange-tinted. This is reflected at night on the clouds above us. So in reality you might see a slight tint to the clouds in the sky (if you look closely). In your shot, you'll see a very definite orange influence on your sky, mostly due to the cumulative effect of the orange tint during long exposure times.
If you go to industrial sights, you'll see lots of differently coloured lights. It's up to you to decide how you want to play with them, since as of yet, i haven't done this. I like landscapes in the night.

A good example of the orange tinting in the sky is this one:

The next one was shot when the moon was out (so you do see shadow). Again the orange tinting did not come from sunset, but from a city which is illuminated at night.

The next one is without a moon, but completely illuminated by the lights of a nearby highway. in the back one can see the lights of one of the roads leading away from the highway. And yes this are once again the 'normal' colours you can get at night.

I'm planning on doing a bit more of this night photography because of all the challenges it poses. It relies a lot more on your own feeling of doing things. You can hit it just right or dreadfully wrong and when they take 20 min or more to take, it can be a one of a time shot you just missed.. *grin*

Little to say

2007-10-15T19:51:00.000+02:00

I want to update this blog, but find that i have little to say.. or better yet.. my mind is running in ten different directions, never staying long enough on a single subject to make a blog about it..

Do i talk about the political crisis in my country? Or do i discuss the pros and contras of public transport? What about a possible travel to Patagonia?... and so on.

I think i need to sleep on it all for a bit.

WAP

2007-04-28T22:56:00.000+02:00

I find myself upholding this challenge but just never taking the time to actually write a blog about it. Ahh well..

This shot comes out of an old quarry. A limestone quarry to be more precise. In old days people started carving into these to use the sandy rock as a base for concrete. After a while the holes got bigger and got deeper. In essence the hallways were dug out from top to bottom. This is the very reason why the original drawings of whose territory (and thus who owned the milestone of that hallway) are on the ceiling.

During the wars, soldiers were stationed here.. these hallways could be used as a route to smuggle or to rescue people so armed forces were needed. These soldiers left behind a variety of drawings, which are quite interesting.

But the main reason i enjoy this place.. the quiet, the absolute quiet. No sound penetrates, no light penetrates, no heat nor cold penetrates. It's absolute in its being... no compromises. Here i have found my place of quietness. There is only one thing which can break the quietness: yourself. There is but one thing that can breach the darkness: you. Still when i am in there i put out my flashlight and just listen to the quietness. It is a confrontation with yourself: can you tolerate absolute darkness and silence? Can you live with who you are? Here you only have your own mind to listen to, your own heart to follow. No outside influence at all. You'll find answers here.. but the questions may be ones you never wanted to ask.

In the end though there is nothing else that compares to the peace found in here, peace within yourself, mind, heart and soul.

PAW 9

2007-03-04T15:38:00.000+01:00

This place has been deserted for a while now, but at times it still got visitors: some to remember, some to destroy. In two weeks nothing will remain and my last visit.. It ended with a truck parked in front of the gate, which we had to navigate around carefully. Once on the street, you have to drive away immediately. Brussels isn't a city, one can take time while on the street. So we didn't get a chance to look back for old times sake. We didn't say goodbye, we just left. And just maybe that is as it should be.. no goodbyes but a camera filled with photos to never forget.

I'm going to highlight just a small part of all the activities that happened here. One that is usually forgotten when people think about a repair-place for buses (public transport).

Every bus had (and still has today) either a number or a letter-combination to declare which one they were/are. Next to that sign there was/is usually a confirmation of which end-point it would/will go to.
In the old days it wasn't paper that announced which bus it was and it wasn't the electronic boards that we see today. Nope, it was much more primitive, yet more advanced as well. Chemicals were a major part of it back then.

Every sign was actually a thin skin stretched over a wooden rectangle. On that skin some letters and numbers were pasted to make up the sign and the destination. On top of them some chemicals were poured (in the square created by the wood) and would as such give a color to the skin around the numbers and letters. Every bus line had its own colour-code. Once the chemicals had done their work, it was removed as were the letters and numbers and you had a 'film' as they are called.
A bus driver can now simply change his sign by using different films. Considering that almost no bus driver in public transport drives the same bus line all the time, this was an easy and simple improvement for them.

Can you imagine the frustration of the film-makers if the people who planned the bus lines suddenly decided to change the signs or destination of bus lines?

PAW 7 + 8

2007-02-26T19:34:00.000+01:00

First of all i want to thank everyone who leaves a message here. It is greatly appreciated. Maybe i'll someday figure out how one can answer..

As to the photos, i'm lagging behind. I have been ill this last week and haven't been able to get paw 7 up and not been able to get my camera out to play. But nevertheless here is paw 7: an old textile factory, which has left some chemical residue on the wall.

I love the yellow on the brick, but i actually don't want to know what it is.. ignorance can be bliss.. hehe.

Seriously though, this place will be converted to a community-center and all this will be cleaned up within a couple of months. A lot of its charm will be gone, but let's hope the new stuff will be equally enchanting. Am i saying this because of its yellow residue? Nope, a nice guy called Pete left some nice paintings behind.. The very essence of temporal beauty.. now it's visible, in a couple of months nothing remains.. All will be gone. It does tend to make things more intense, doesn't it? Knowing it will be gone soon.

P.A.W. 6 - Prison

2007-02-12T07:45:00.000+01:00

Halfway the 18th century Maria Theresia (Austrian ruler) decided to build a new prison. In 1773 the first stone was laid and in 1779 the first 'visitors' were welcomed. A new concept was used to built it. It broke with several customs of the past. What was so revolutionary about it?

Instead of torturing and bodily punishments, for the first time in history criminals were brought here to be re-educated. To do this they had to perform mandatory labor (so they would learn a job). There was also a library so they could read enlightening books.. unfortunately most couldn't read.
Another major improvement is that contrary to all other prison, the cells were individually. Not a huge group of people thrown together, but each got a cell, in a wing of their gender and with others with similar offenses. The image is a look at the only window a cell had. Small and secure.
There was some attention to hygiene: running water in the lowest levels (when the river flooded.. a joke among the guards) and a schedule to bring water to all levels so they could clean themselves regularly if wanted.

In 1871 this huge building was used as barracks and prison of the Belgian army. The little, individual cells could easily be converted to a bedroom if needed. But mostly it staid a prison.

During the second world war, the prison was used by the Germans. For the first time torture entered the gates. Interrogation happened here daily.

After the war, it was returned into the hands of the Belgian military, whom once again used it as barracks and prison.

In 1981 the army left, and it was sold to the city, who had trouble finding use for such a big building. Today they want to build a museum in the oldest wing. The other wings will be used by community-services.

These stones have a story, because people gave it to them. Their blood and tears, their cries and pain were all poured into the stones. And at times, very rare though it may be, hope grew between these walls.
These stone have known no peace. They have been carved by men in their anger, desperation or boredom. Every day they woke to people dying of the cold (no heating), people suffering from diseases or people fighting among each other to be higher on the internal ranking order.
These stones had a purpose. Re-education was the goal. It was never forgotten throughout the years.. or maybe it was! They should not and can not be forgotten now.

Brussels

2007-02-06T20:37:00.000+01:00

An update between WAP's. This is a shot from Brussels, in the middle of the summer. A blistering day, a renovated building, a roof, chairs.. now only some soda and we're set for a bit of history.

This building we're standing on, used to be an old service-center of our national railway company. In the very middle of Brussels was this huge location where trains were stored, repaired,.. It was the biggest one in Belgium.. in the middle of Brussels.
As time went on, a lot got automated and less repair space was needed. Parts of it became neglected. Still it was in use (more or less). One day trains stopped coming. As cities get busier, it's harder and harder to move trains through it to their repair shops. In the end this prime location was useless for the company. So it was abandoned...

Why not sell, people must have been willing to pay a lot for these grounds? There is a huge network of train tunnels below Brussels and it always might be possible that some day one tunnel would end here and thus it might be used again.

The air got heavy, the water stagnant and life disappeared. No more men who hurried to their repair shop to get the trains back out as fast as possible, no more hammering or hissing by the torches. No discussions over little things, that were settled over a pint of beer. No fights over bigger things, that got settled over a couple of beers. Nothing. Silence ruled.
At times people ventured in, just to quickly leave again. Silence always returned.

Now there is no longer hope that the railway company will ever use it again. And the silence was breached. The property got sold and people renovated the buildings. The architecture is special, yet very typical for the Belgian railway, and they wanted to preserve it. So the new functions are worked into it.. or on top of it, as the case may be.

Can you imagine a reception on top of here? The sun setting between the towers, some nice company..

Well, my glass is empty.. enjoy the view. Until next time!

P.A.W. 5

2007-02-04T21:48:00.000+01:00

Today i'm in a philosophical mood. Have you ever heard about one of the most profound questions: a shout in a forest? No? Here it is: if you cry out in the forest and no-one hears you, did it really happen?

I have been pondering that question on and off for a long time and i think i finally have some opinion about it. If you cry out in a forest, no doubt some animals will hear you and react to it.. either scare up or come to investigate. But than the question becomes even more philosophical: suppose there are no animals. All right, going with this as well, the expelled breath will enrich the air with a very small amount of carbon dioxide and thus encourage the plants to grow more. It will be incredible small but still there. So new question: not in a forest but in a desert.. Are you seeing how it is going as i am? Alright again i follow the flow: that one expulsion of breath could cause a sandstorm but is more likely to cause to scare animals again. And we're off again... There is no real answer, but isn't it interesting that we deem something real on its consequences? Not on whether it happened or not, but on its consequences. How strange that is.

You have probably heard about the butterfly-effect: a butterfly, flapping its wings in one part of the world, could affect the weather on the other side of the globe. As far as i know it can't be proven wrong, in fact in theory it is entirely possible. In other words, even the smallest event has a potential of having unexpected, big consequences. Hence that scream in the forest might be the beginning or may just be an unheard scream.

In my world, we live in a extremely hot winter. It hasn't frozen yet and January is over and done with. If i ever find out whose scream is responsible for this.. (kidding). Anyway, it gives some strange views for january: here is moss that is now waiting to deposit its children (the long orange things) into the wind. It will have to be a bit drier for them to fly out, but the hot, wet winter has made sure there were ideal circumstances for creating offspring.

P.A.W. 4

2007-01-29T21:31:00.000+01:00

Experimental. First go at a simple feather and using some light. Good or bad? I do think i will be experimenting more.. it's fun.

P.A.W. 3

2007-01-22T21:26:00.000+01:00

A bit late, but here.. I went to a syrup factory to shoot for the owner but made some for myself as well. This is the foam created by heating the syrup to make it more dense.

Unrelated news: i'm converting my entire website to a new system. I hope to have it finished by the end of this week so right on time for the next PAW.

P.A.W. 2

2007-01-14T22:03:00.000+01:00

While i was out exploring, i regularly encounter spiderwebs/dustwebs. The second week shows you a look into what i usual encounter when i'm photohunting.. an advanced spiderweb. This is scary to some, but honestly this shows that a house is healthy. Yup spiders only live in healthy places.. now aren't you glad you saw that spider in your living room yesterday? hehe

P.A.W.

2007-01-07T23:20:00.000+01:00

P.A.W.? Photo added weekly.. I'm going to try to add a photo each week, to this blog. This is the first week of the year and voila a first photo.. A shot of a a drop of water caught.. just seconds before it was blown off. Pffww just in time.

A church

2006-12-29T18:15:00.000+01:00

First of all you have got to know that i went to a catholic school. It didn't make me all that catholic, but it did raise a lot of questions in my mind. Among them one that has kept on burning in my mind since that first time i entered a church. And now.. now i had the once in a lifetime chance to resolve this question. In other words i went to an abandoned church and found my answer. (for the curious ones, yes this church was also unholied before abandonement)

My question? What is there above the holes in the ceilings. I mean you see the architectural bows everywhere and where they cross each other, at the very apex, you always have a hole. Sometimes it's a big round hole, sometimes it's a small square but always, always there is a hole to be found. Why is there a hole? What is above it that needs this hole?.. Why oh why are there holes in the ceiling? Now i know. A lifelong question answered.

Above them is nothing.. not even a floor .. nope you walk on the round bows itself because there is no floor on top. So all you have is air, but wait there is still a roof above all of this.. so back to the why? Why a hole, when there is no floor and why a roof to protect this. Well let me tell you what these holes are used for and you'll understand. They were used to pull wire through. On these wires the lights (candles at the time) were raised. And this explains also the need to put a roof above it. The wires could rot when getting wet, so they were protected form the rains. The uneven ceiling (the bows) was used to better be able to pull the candles up. It is easier to pull down (which you would be doing if your standing lower than the hole) than to pull up (if you would be on a floor, in which the holes are). And so now you know as well, though i'm not sure if you ever had the same urge to know. hehe

Adventures while urbexing

2006-12-11T00:01:00.000+01:00

I'm the first to say that i'm not that experienced yet since i only have been doing this for 1,5 years but still i can tell you that urbexing is an adventure.. dangerous, risky (stupid to some) but it teaches you also about who you are.

Me, i have been caught by the MP's (military police) on one location because it wasn't as abandoned as it looked. Still i have to sat they were nice chaps just doing their jobs. They followed the book, but that is as expected. What is worse, is encounters with the more unruly part of society..

Some people see these abandoned places as a place to either dump stuff or do stuff not exactly legal. These people often feel threatened when a stranger with a photo camera is on 'their' terrain. These are the people you need to watch out for. They sometimes do stupid things because they feel threatened. Having knifes pulled out at you has happened and will probably happen again. So sneaking around them is usually a better option than to risk visual contact. *Sigh*

Even in abandoned places peace can be a difficult thing to find.

Portaits

2006-10-13T23:48:00.000+02:00

I'm amazed people actually want to be on a photo when i am behind the camera. I'm not, nor will i ever be the most charming, socially adept person around. In fact most people would call me a little closed off, a bit strange and somewhat rude. I don't like to be polite just for the sake of being polite.. i prefer saying nothing. I don't make irrelevant conversations.. they are just not worth my time. So yes i'm not the most easy person to talk with. But at least i know how to listen.. it comes with being silent.

In any case, back to the portrait-thingie. I tried it and while it will never be my first choice of things to do, i can do them from time to time..

I don't think it turned out that bad for a first time.. but i know i still have a lot to learn. So i will.

Maltprim

2006-08-05T18:27:00.000+02:00

A trainstation that has its no 1 platform in the shadow of an abandonned place. For protection reasons, i'll not spill the true name, but let's call the abandonned factory maltprim.

Beginning of 2004, lay-offs and a move to Antwerp left this place in need.. no more work, no more personnel. It was empty, lost part of its soul and started to loose its spirit. Suddenly in 2005 there was a graffitti-contest on its outer walls.. activity, life all around it. For one moment it must have felt alive again. Sadly it only lasted a short while before silence descended again.

In february of this year, it was decided that the building will be re-used for appartements. But the politicians can't agree really so it's a bit in limbo.. and so it still waits.. waiting for a future that people roam within its walls, that people cry and laugh in its rooms..

As usual this is a place i want to go to.. the peace within, the fast pace of the trains passing on the outside, the people moving around outside, hurrying to catch their train and time standing still within.

Urban exploration

2006-08-03T13:44:00.000+02:00

It's been a while since i have written anything here. I find myself unwilling to write many blogs. I have more important things to do, and too little time to do them.

Nevertheless because i do feel that at times i have something worthwile to say, i'll not completely abandon it.

Urban exploration.. do you have any idea what this is? It's stupid and dangerous. Stairs break down, floors fall down, dirty needles everywhere and let's not even begin about asbestos or chemicals often found in abandonned places.

To explore these old, abandonned places you need experience and the right equipment and even then you can (and will at some stage) get injured because you simply didn't count on 'that' happening. Everyone with this passion will tell you that at some stage they were either incredible lucky or were injured.

I myself have counted my blessings in a few places. This is dangerous and you have to be kind of crazy to be willing to put yourself through all of this.

So why do i do it? Because i like to see these buildings, places and know that i found beauty in it and that for that one moment that building/location had its old glory back.. at least in my eyes. Noone ever believes that places, abandonned and discarded, might hold any magnificence.. but they often do. All you need to do is wake up one day and see the beauty around you. Then and only then will you be able to see the beauty within these locations, lost in time.

An example of its beauty:

Do i encourage exploring these places.. absolutely not. Haven't you read the part about the danger?
Also for pure selfish reasons, i do encourage you to stay away, especially if you have no clue what you're doing. You'll only endanger these places for people like me. The more stupid people go there, the more security will be bumped up. And the more people go there, the more it gets trashed, effectively destroying this place for us.

I despise media like 6pack (MTV) that happily announce places like these to the grand public and go in there without adequate equipment and tag all over it. They are like rabid dogs, peeing all over the place. I do not need to say what gets done to these dogs do i? Effectively from today on i will not reveal any location to these people.

Ancient tree

2005-03-21T19:44:00.000+01:00

This is to me the start really. The way my path became clearer yet a whole lot more difficult. The first ever for me to be completely brushed. Up to this piece i had been doing 3d-art which i improved on and painted in the nebulaes (space-art) but here i radically changed ideas and went for something completely new and different. All the pieces from now on have a story in them, stories that have been walking through my head for ages and now they are starting to be put out there in my digital pieces.

This piece is the Ancient Tree and this is its story:
The citycouncil had decided to turn the park into a block of appartments. But in this one corner a strange tree was standing and no matter what they just couldn't cut it down.. their machinery stoppped working and axes hit the dirt instead of the tree. It was said that some kind of power protected this tree. In any case this little corner remained standing. To this day some claim they have seen strange things happening there.

And for those of you wondering and some might, no it isn't a real story as far as i know, it's just part of a story in my head. Maybe some day i'll tell the whole story..

Starting out

2005-03-17T10:50:00.000+01:00

This will be my first blog.. and i'm still not sure if i will continue doing this. Opening up doesn't come easy and i don't think it ever will.
For all those searching for an interesting blog, where lot of exciting things happen, this won't be it. There will not be adventures, life-threatening situations or even stories about bungee jumping on here. It will be about my thoughts and since i'm living a 'normal' life nothing on here will get your juices going. This is and will be a boring blog.

For those looking for controversial opinions, you'll be disappointed. This is a blog about my common life in the Western world, nothing more and nothing less.
I have my opinion and it might not be yours. I'm open to discussion and a different view on things. Considering i'm human, my opinions will change often, depending on what goes through my mind at that time. If you give your founded opinion, it will be considered with everything else in my mind. But that doesn't mean that i will follow your reasoning or that i agree with your opinion. In the end i make up my own mind.

Now that i have told you how boring this is going to get, let me start with telling a bit about me.

Who am I?
Interesting question.
Do we ever really know who we are? Do you really know yourself in and out, the bad and the good? Do you dare walk in that kind of honesty?
If you do know yourself so well, doesn't it change day after day, because of the new experiences of each day? If so, you'll need to relearn about yourself every day. If not, this blog is bound to get even more boring.
If you don't know, why bother answering this question?

For now let's stick to the facts:
Nick: witam or wit
Sexe: female
Country: Belgium
year of birth: 1977

That's enough for now..
Witam