Selestat, Bas Rhin, France

France

Selestat, Bas Rhin, France by Charlie Waite
Limited Edition Signed Landscape Print

The Route du Vin drive from Colmar toward Strasbourg is always an enjoyable one. With the mighty Rhine just 20 kilometres away, this is the landscape of semi timbered houses, dilapidated castles, medieval villages and of course the ubiquitous vine.

Winter is perhaps the best time for Landscape Photography in Northern Europe; not for snow and ice particularly, certainly not for the cold but for the unique quality of light that sometimes graces the landscape. A vast tract of land; seemingly flat and without undulation can reveal a rippling blanket of form with low oblique light.

Normally I would wish for a sky that lent drama to my image such as a fine dusting of high cirrus cloud but on this occasion, any such sky would have been an interference, a distraction from the symmetry and order here.

I am always concerned about the general arrangement of shapes and controlling the structure of the image. Interestingly, there is an element that destabilises this image although some might suggest that it introduces a sense of depth; they seem too weak to do so. It is the line of reeds bisecting the frame almost precisely in half. Thankfully, their presence is barely evident as their own reflection merges into those of the stately trees. I would have preferred there to be no spit of land as we see here and perhaps the surface area of the sky above could equate to its reflection below.

The deep magenta hills beyond and the reflection of the trees become softened by the mildest of breezes across the water. Whilst looking at this image bringing a serene sensation of still it is inconceivable to imagine the evening rush hour traffic of some  60 cars a minute racing along the busy road less than 50 metres behind me. 

Tags: Selestat | Bas Rhin | France | Landscape Photograph | Landscape Print for Sale | Limited Edition Signed Print

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