• Travel

    Black Forest

    A picture I like turns my gaze inwards and I stop staring at it. It is not possible for me to give the reason why I avert my gaze. For it is no longer my eyes that look.

    Is it a spell ? Has a string of my existence been made to vibrate ? Is it a vortex that draws me into its depths ?

    Farmstead in the Black Forest © Julian Köpke

    The simple shot of a farm in the Black Forest can take on the attractiveness of a shot from the early days of photography by processing the lighting conditions. Immediately, the antennas on the roofs of the farm look like evidence of a long past, although they can be no more than 50 years old.

    The first day of the new year ended at the little church of Maria Lindenberg with a warm sunshine that almost protectively enveloped the promenaders. The gaze inwards is lost in the apparent aimlessness of the walking movement.

    First sunset of 2023 © Julian Köpke

    The forest area, which takes its name from the effect its conifers have on the viewer, has not always been a Black Forest. The visitor becomes smaller to tiny when the fog makes the forest even more impenetrable.

    The farm was named after an Ignaz, locally always with the associated diminutive Nazi, but this designation has since been banned from the signs as unacceptable.

    Black Forest near Hinterzarten © Julian Köpke