What happens to the new land that has been recovered from seas and lakes, the bare sand of the coastlines?
Blueprints are eagerly spread on desks of architects, project developers and politicians. Opportunities lay ahead: fresh land devoid of historical obstacles is ready to be reclaimed. I want to capture this pioneer landscape, emerged out of the mind of these coastal inhabitants.
Rarely can a landscapes photographer capture a piece of new land. Arising from a rational need and based on the methods of modern technology, the reclaimed land is taking shape. I am interested to observe/to register what the creator and the user of this artificial landscape are going to do with it.
Land reclamation
Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Gibraltar, Singapore and Dubai have all expanded their mainland by means of land reclamation. The idea is not new. For centuries The Netherlands have been draining their coastlines. Belgium has also drained the Nieuw-Westlandpolder in 1942, 600 of the 820 ha of mud and silt then disappeared from the Belgian territory (Groot- Buitenschoor). Rich countries that have land shortage rely on Dutch and Belgian expertise to enlarge their territory. Dubai has been very creative by building the "palm islands": new islands in the form of a palm tree, alike the whole surface of the earth has been regained from the sea.
‘Between the spatial reality and the landscape photograph there is the uniqueness of the artistic medium: an intuitive confrontation of the artist with space, a subjective process of recognition and selection, a composition with the coincidental, a skilled manipulation of sharpness, light and color.’
Reclaimed land is not terrain but land, in the sense that it is perfectly verifiable real estate with clear land demarcation. An area completely dominated by speculators, the owners. It belongs to the urban landscape and is systematically defined, first created as a mental concept, then as engineering concept and takes only later shape. The future is already known: a safe discovery, hence highly lucrative.
This project represents a snapshot of the new land and explains the unbridled enthusiasm and usage of the new turf by the new pioneer. He is not bound by the restrictions imposed by natural land demarcation.
It is this hyperrealistic approach of land that creates a space, which is more realistic than reality itself. Hence, a surrealistic representation is created, going from a 3D computer simulation to housing, offices and fields.
That is what fascinates me and drives me to explore further.
