Unexpected: road transport by Arjan Warmerdam

Unexpected: industry by the roadside (resulting in a lovely photo)

Not far from the Biggesee and the dam near Olpe, the landscape changes suddenly. Nestled amongst the wooded hills lies the site of Steinbruchbetrieb Günter Jung, where natural stone is quarried and processed. It’s not a place you’d normally think of straight away as a photo location, but that’s precisely why it caught my eye.

From the road, a striking scene unfolds. The carriageway runs almost straight through the industrial installations, drawing your gaze deep into the photograph. To the left and right stand large buildings, silo's, pipes and conveyor belts. One of those conveyor belts even spans the road. Together, they almost form an industrial gateway through which you drive.

It was precisely the combination of that straight road with all the lines and shapes of the installations that I found interesting. Everything in this place serves a practical purpose, but from this vantage point, an unintended composition of steel, concrete and geometric shapes emerges.

At the moment I took the photograph, an impressive cloudy sky added to the scene. In this edit, I’ve deliberately emphasised that atmosphere a little more. To me, the dark clouds complement the rough industrial character of the location well and give the photo an almost cinematic quality.

At the same time, the Sauerland landscape remains visible. Behind and between the installations, the green hills and trees come into view. This creates a stark contrast between what has been built by humans and the natural surroundings in which the complex is situated.

That is perhaps what appeals to me most about this photograph. The subject doesn’t necessarily have to be beautiful to still produce an interesting image. Sometimes it is precisely an empty road, weathered buildings, conveyor belts and a threatening sky that make you look again. A patch of industry by the roadside near Olpe, but through the viewfinder suddenly a landscape of lines, steel and sky.