This photo received an "honorable mention" at the International Photography Awards (IPA) in 2015.
The Schwanenstein is a glacial erratic on the island of Rügen in Germany. According to one legend, babies were delivered on Rügen in summer by Adebar the stork and in winter by swans. Until then the children were hidden in the rock. So the stone was associated with feelings of happiness, until a sad incident occurred on 13 February 1956, when some boys from the orphanage and the village of Lohme were playing near the shore on the frozen Baltic Sea. The weather changed suddenly, a storm whipped up and broke the ice. Three boys saved themselves on the Schwanenstein. As the wind increased in strength, becoming a hurricane, a frantic rescue operation was launched. Local fishermen, a fishing boat from Sassnitz and border guards tried to save the children, but storm surge wrecked all their efforts. Rescue teams from outside, for example, an engineer platoon of the Volkspolizei from Prora, got stuck in the metre-high snowdrifts. Only the next morning, when the weather had calmed, could the bodies of the three boys, be recovered from the Schwanenstein.
Frans van Hoogstraten (1958) is arts en daarnaast "Award Winning" landschapsfotograaf. Maar hij is vooral ook een liefhebber van de natuur. Onze wereld is turbulent, lawaaierig en vol afleiding. De natuur biedt ons de mogelijkheid om te ontsnappen aan deze drukte. Met zijn dromerige foto's probeert.. Read more…