At the Old Eider Canal
No, this view of a section of the Old Eider Canal was not created using the Photoshop toolbox and the like. Rather, it is an authentic photograph - without any image-altering manipulation in the digital darkroom. To be more precise: we see a picture in which only the infrared light, which is not perceptible to our eyes, was captured by the sensor of the special digital camera.
Taking photos in the range of invisible infrared rays is like diving into another visual world. Subjects that are so familiar to us suddenly appear transformed, in a surprisingly new, often magical light. And that is precisely why Infrared photography, especially in their black and white variant, predestined to break traditional viewing habits.
The Old Eider Canal
Like this picture of the historic lock of the Old Eider Canal in Klein Königsförde, one of the few relics of this almost forgotten waterway from the late 18th century. The Eider Canal is rightly described as one of the most important historical technical structures in Schleswig-Holstein. It connected the Kiel Fjord with the lower Eider near Rendsburg and was considered the most important artificial waterway in Europe until the Kiel Canal was completed in 1895. It was the first canal in the world that seagoing ships could navigate.
In the footsteps of Jules Verne
Jules Verne, the pioneer of the science fiction novel, was probably the most prominent passenger in the history of the Old Eider Canal. Accompanied by his brother Paul, he crossed the waterway in his steam yacht in the summer of 1881 - a trip that left a lasting impression on the traveling party. Paul Verne noted in his diary:
From Rendsburg to Kiel, the canal runs through a real park... The yacht glides quietly through the mysterious arbor, between wooden beacons and woven shore walls. The journey seems to lead to unknown worlds. A sea of leaves rustles and trembles all around the ship, and the shore disappears completely under the dark, shiny green. Rose bushes bend at our unexpected appearance; aquatic plants with green, still leaves seem to be frightened and dive into the protective depths.
Jules Verne in Schleswig-Holstein. Edited and with an afterword by Frank Trende, Husum 2020.
And his famous brother Jules added: “It is a wonderful country.”
It was these lines from the Verne brothers' travelogue that inspired me to capture the past magic of the Old Eider Canal with the aesthetics of infrared photography.
Recording device: Nikon D7000, modified for monochrome infrared photography (wave range 830 nm). Lens: AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24 mm 1:3,5-4,5G ED.
