The photo is taken from my series “Industry Nature”. The series is dedicated to document another way of climate change happening in the Ruhr area (Germany), showing how nature takes back what the industry once took from her. It serves as an example of how a region that had only known heavy industries for a long time revitalized its industrial wastelands. Located on the area of a former coal mine, the photo shows an art installation which is called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. It should illustrate the increasing electrification of society. The reference to Goethe’s Zauberlehrling serves as a warning to always critically question any new technical achievement.
Specific Feedback Requested
I would like to know how you like the composition in general and what you think about the colouring. When I first edited this picture, it was a little too saturated, so i tried to change that without loosing the vibrant autumn colours.
A great example how nature can recover what was taken away. I feel the color looks well balanced and fits the scene well. The overall composition balanced out very well with the water and cloud structure.
I think the composition is really good, I looked at the images in your portfolio and you seem to have a good eye for composition.
The color saturation looks very realistic, may even be slightly under saturated but not having been there in person, it looks good.
I’m wondering about the theme though, it seems to me that your approach may be lacking in some way and maybe it’s just because you’re not sharing the whole story here?
I feel that a “Before” and “After” presentation would do well (if you don’t already have that).
I’m confused by this, I was under the impression that “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” was about the apprentice calling up magical spells on a broom to fetch water for him, then discovers he can’t control it, then the sorcerer comes to the rescue by breaking the spell on two brooms summoned to fetch water (one broom split into two brooms by the apprentice as I recall).
I believe the reference to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in regards to the “Dancing Pylon” is one where the apprentice calls up a spell on the pylon because he simply wants to see a 10 ton steel structure dance because it’s free from the burden of carrying power wires.
Of course I may be missing something.
BTW, I’m not being critical of your theme or the story, I know you didn’t ask for feedback on that part, I’m just sharing my thoughts in hopes that you can enlighten me.
I think the composition and scene here is working nicely for what you want to show. My only small suggestion would be to cool down the white balance slightly, add a touch of magenta, and also desaturate the greens a little.
Hi Mervin. I completely agree with you. It would be really great to have a before-after comparison but unfortunately it is a problem with the image rights in Germany. I don’t want to bore you with any details on that but I tried it once at one of the corporate archives that still exists and it would have cost me fees just to have a look at the original photographs, let alone a license or copy. One photo of this location can be found at Wikipedia (https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeche_Vondern).
I just took this explanation for the naming of the pylon from the original artist’s website. A detailed explanation of the meaning was not given unfortunately.
[quote=“Eric Bennett, post:4, topic:32967, username:Eric_Bennett”]
My only small suggestion would be to cool down the white balance slightly, add a touch of magenta, and also desaturate the greens a little.[/quote]
Thank you very much, Eric. I’ll definetely try to that out.
It’s OK, you can bore me with the details, I’m retired!
I completely understand the whole license and copywrite costs issue, it could easily get too expensive.
I done a fairly deep search the other day and I found the same Wikipedia page that you just linked to.
If you’re doing this as an online presentation, how about just linking to that same webpage since it has all of the details about the coal industry in the Ruhr region, and maybe write up a timeline in addition?, just something that will help your viewers understand the significance of the change.
I found the webpage where they say that the meaning was about climate change and questioning technology but I feel very sure they were “Bending” the real meaning to suit their own needs.
I couldn’t find any references to climate or warnings about technology or industry in any of the searches I did on “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” poem, everything I found points to the story of the broom fetching water.
And if you think about it, how would a humorous dancing 10 ton industrial powerline structure stand for a warning when there’s a massive working powerline structure just across the river.
IMHO, It’s just humorous art and the artist thought that a title like that seemed witty.
In my opinion, it may be better to push the fact that coal mining and the production of power by coal was discontinued in the spirit of a cleaner environment and cleaner air, and replaced with a much cleaner power source which allowed mother earth to reclaim what was once hers.
Anyway, great project!!
It’s just my take and… other viewers who are familiar with the poem might wonder about it as I did.
I thought about linking some of the older photographs and information but dismissed it because I don’t want to lead people away from my website. With a before-after comparison it would be just so cool to see it at first sight. In any case, your comments are highly appreciated because it shows that I need to put some further work into explaining the background or maybe it’s worth to go for the licenses. I guess it’s just to clear for me how it once looked because I come from this area. So it’s good to receive some feedback from an “outsider”.
Regarding the interpretation of the poem, I understood that it is related to the development of the energy sector. As more and more pylons were popping up around the Ruhr area, people got distrustful against the new technical achievements. Just like the broom, they were thinking that techniques might become independent or get misused. I don’t think the artist originally linked it to climate change but I guess you’re right in saying that their bending it to their needs nowadays.
I really like the last part of your interpretation although the production of our German electricity is still far away from being green. Anyway, it’s surely a lot better then it was in the past.
Thank you for taking the time to research the background and for giving your input.
