RoelHendrickx
Forum Pro
We took a guided tour of the ancient sewer system of Antwerp (Belgium).
It provides fascinating insights in the growth of the city : living archeology!
In medieval times, these were small brooks and canals, but they got used more and more for waste disposal. Being situated in the heart of the city, they got gradually covered by bridges, for reasons of building space and avoidance of stench.
More info is in the text I wrote for my gallery : http://roelh.zenfolio.com/p752699105
Nowadays, the actual sewage runs in closed pipes, and the old water bed is flooded only after very heavy rains. It's a challenging walk through water and muck and you need to keep your balance at all times so as not to end flat on the floor. Taking a camera is not encouraged if not outright forbidden.
However, I could not resist taking my LX3, that I used mostly without flash so as not to lose the atmosphere of the place. This means : spot-metering, ISO800, aperture wide open at all times and some pretty extreme shutter speeds (I limited at 1/4 sec and later 1/8 minimum). Slower would have yielded unusable images. All images handheld of course.
Let me know if you think I managed to provide a sense of the place.
Here are some samples, but please do take a look in the full gallery (link above).
A general impression of a spot where colonies of many rats live in the walls:
What you see here, is the floor in cobblestones, with reflection of the vaulted brick ceiling:
The pipeline on the right is the more "modern" sewer system:
Signs indicate under which streets and squares we are moving, but the system runs under houses and churches too:
General view:
Nature always finds a way:
--
Roel Hendrickx
lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com
my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html
It provides fascinating insights in the growth of the city : living archeology!
In medieval times, these were small brooks and canals, but they got used more and more for waste disposal. Being situated in the heart of the city, they got gradually covered by bridges, for reasons of building space and avoidance of stench.
More info is in the text I wrote for my gallery : http://roelh.zenfolio.com/p752699105
Nowadays, the actual sewage runs in closed pipes, and the old water bed is flooded only after very heavy rains. It's a challenging walk through water and muck and you need to keep your balance at all times so as not to end flat on the floor. Taking a camera is not encouraged if not outright forbidden.
However, I could not resist taking my LX3, that I used mostly without flash so as not to lose the atmosphere of the place. This means : spot-metering, ISO800, aperture wide open at all times and some pretty extreme shutter speeds (I limited at 1/4 sec and later 1/8 minimum). Slower would have yielded unusable images. All images handheld of course.
Let me know if you think I managed to provide a sense of the place.
Here are some samples, but please do take a look in the full gallery (link above).
A general impression of a spot where colonies of many rats live in the walls:
What you see here, is the floor in cobblestones, with reflection of the vaulted brick ceiling:
The pipeline on the right is the more "modern" sewer system:
Signs indicate under which streets and squares we are moving, but the system runs under houses and churches too:
General view:
Nature always finds a way:
--
Roel Hendrickx
lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com
my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html
