G-rheinkilometer — klaus hammerl photography

Rheinkilometer

Rheinkilometer are signs along the banks of river Rhine, which show the length of the river starting at the Rhinebridge in Konstanz with “Kilometer 0” to the mouth into the Northsea at “Kilometer 1036”.

On first sight this is a scale for shipping and administration. But it is also a monument consisting of 1036 huge and about 9300 smaller signs which remind on the oldest and still existing international contract. On the Wiener Kongress 1815 realms of Europe decided to free inland shipping on the main rivers from customs and other taxes. This was and is the foundation of mobility and economic evolution.

My project will cover - once completed - the part of the river between Rüdesheim and Koblenz, the part which is UNESCO world heritage site. The plan is to take a picture close to every Rheinkilometer-sign starting at km 524 between Bingen and Rüdesheim, ending at km 592 in Koblenz.

The idea is to show the beauty and variety of my beloved homeland. This beauty was once the reason for me to start photography. The kilometers shall not only create a structural grid but provide also a restriction which hopefully force my creativity.

What I feel is that the picture-taking process, anyway a greater part of it, is an intuitive thing. You can't go out and logically plan a picture, but when you come back, reason then takes over and verifies or rejects whatever you've done. So that's why I say that reason and intuition are not in conflict--they strengthen each other.

Wynn Bullock ‍