Eemshaven industrie

Heavy industry on the Groningen coast

Eemshaven is not a tourist destination, and that is precisely what makes it so interesting for photographers. Everything here is about scale and function. Cooling towers, wind turbines along the horizon, quaysides with cargo ships and towering high-voltage pylons. The human presence is enormous, but the people themselves are almost invisible. That contrast between massive infrastructure and emptiness gives your images an almost post-apocalyptic quality.

The light makes the difference

Sunset and the blue hour are at their best here. When the sun is low, warm orange and red light spreads across the steel structures and the water in the harbour. Shortly after, during the blue hour, the industrial lighting systems start to come on. Lamps along the quaysides, illuminated towers, flashing red warning lights on the wind turbines. The mix of fading daylight and rising artificial light lasts barely twenty minutes, but it produces striking images.

Compositions and focal lengths

For wide overview shots with the offshore wind farms I like to work here with a wide-angle lens around 24mm or 35mm. The low horizon and broad sky call for space. If you want to isolate industrial details, a telephoto zoom of 100 to 200mm is more useful. Compression makes the wind turbines, chimneys and masts appear closer together than they are, which emphasises the density of the whole. A tripod is almost essential if you want to shoot the blue hour with longer shutter speeds.

Practical

Eemshaven is an active port with secured sites. You can photograph freely along the public roads and quaysides without a permit, but do not enter fenced-off industrial areas. There are several viewpoints along the Eemshavenweg and near the marina that are freely accessible. Parking is no problem outside working hours. The area is worth visiting all year round, but in autumn and winter the sky is rawer and more dramatic. There is almost always wind, so keep your tripod steady and cover your bag.

Sources and further reading

• Groningen Seaports
• Gemeente Het Hogeland
• Wikipedia: Eemshaven