The Making Of

I’m not someone who leaves rubbish behind, not in the city and certainly not in nature. But I have to confess something: last February, I made this image for the exhibition “Improvisaties op wind, water, Wad” at Museum Belvédère. We were on a spring break, but it was still freezing cold.

Setting up the Camera

Fixing the camera with gaffer tape was a challenge. I tried to secure it between some barbed wire, which was very thin; the wind was howling, and my hands were freezing. Above all, I feared that my subject, the poor dead goose stuck between the barbed wire, would fall off. So it took me a while, and in the meantime, I had to use a lot of tape to get the job done.

Two days later, I returned to pick up the pinhole camera.

The Cold Return Trip

This time, I brought my five-year-old son along. We had to collect four cameras that I had set up in different places.

• First stop: Wierum, where we picked up two pinhole cameras and searched for pretty shells. 🐚
• Next: Paessens-Moddergat, where it was even colder and windier than before, and it started raining.
• Finally: we reached the camera attached to the barbed wire.

I told my son to wait on a dike while I tried to make my way through the mud and water, careful not to sink. In the meantime, my son stood there yelling at me to hurry up because he was cold. There was only one slight problem: my fingers were just as cold, so I could not loosen the gaffer tape. The tape was wet from the rain and had become slippery as a result.

The Struggle with Gaffer Tape

After ten minutes of trying, I managed to get the camera free, but there was still quite a bit of gaffer tape stuck to the wire. It did not come off, so I left it. This is something I have felt guilty about ever since.

Plastic Soup

My son had learned about the plastic soup in the sea at school, which only deepened my concern, especially as I kept seeing videos of plastic-eating plankton on social media.

A few months later, I went back to the spot to check if the tape was still there. The bird was long gone, but the tape remained. This time, I was prepared with a pair of scissors, and finally, I managed to remove all the tape. People nearby looked at me like I was crazy, but I was just happy it was gone.

A New Tool in My Kit: Scissors

From now on, a good pair of scissors will be a regular part of my photography equipment. ✂️

In Urban Exploration Photography, they say:

And so it is. But apart from the tape, even my footprints are completely gone now because grass has grown over them. That is what time does. All that remains is the one image I made.

Sign up for regular updates so you never miss a blog post!