All Along the Watershed
Frederik van den Berg
Exploring omnipresence and omnipotence, this is a story about water and time.
The images follow along a watershed that nurtures a neighborhood of ecosystems. Starting at the highest point of the valley, I explore the movement of water as it trickles down the mountainside, sprouting out of waterfalls, shaping rocks along the riverbed and feeding any lifeform that comes in contact with it. Sometimes, all that remains are traces left by the water, alterations made by the passage of streams and time.
For now the project originates in the natural and seemingly untouched landscape. The next steps will follow the water further, up to when the borders between nature and culture start to blur and water goes from being a subtle force of nature to being an unquestioned commodity. By doing this, I am exploring the cultural and social significance of water, emphasizing our dependency on a resource affected by our individual and collective actions.
While the project is an experimentation, so is the exhibition position. There are several layers of stories, and several perspectives.
The journal entries reveal thoughts and struggles which follow a timeline throughout the project; on location, back home, months after, in workshops, shortly before the exhibition.
The satellite images provide a sense of scale and a sense of geography, to iterate and portray the literal concept of the watershed.
An annotated film storyboard reveals the unsuccessful attempt at also becoming a filmmaker, which seems to be the new norm for many photographers in recent years.
Test prints in various sizes and iterations lay the groundwork for editing and reviewing image sequences. The fine art frames lean towards the representation of a final, chosen image.
The ladder and binoculars offer perspectives and a sense of achievement for climbing, if only in a metaphorical sense, to the top of the mountain to the source of the watershed.
Frederik van den Berg
Frederik van den Berg is a photographer based in Zurich with a focus on Alpine environments. His personal work consists of environmental observations and projects about disappearing landscapes, sustainability initiatives, and adventures of every-day people.