This is the start of a new series.

I travelled quiet a bit during the last two years and am not planning to stop doing so, so I thought I might share my two cents and tell you a bit about destinations that are worth visiting and photographing…or not.

I will try to highlight the things that I found worth photographing, and at the end I give either a thumbs up or down for the travel photography potential.

I am doing this to create a kind of guide for photographers, who want to travel, but dont know where it is worth to go for photography.

I think this could be helpful for some peeps out there, so here we go.

This time we are visiting Antwerp.

This city is really special and definitely deserves a place on my World City Top 10 list.

Why? Its different. Very different.

Antwerp Central Station

The first awesome photography site is one that you simply cannot miss. The Central Station of Antwerp.

It was built around 1900, and is simply overwhelmingly beautiful.

It was even judged as the worlds fourth greatest train station by the Newsweek.

Its interesting for two things, the old part and the new part.



The old part is the centre of the station featuring the huge dome in bold red.

Its just like taken from a old movie. Fantastic for shooting.

The mass of metal strips in the dome creates an interesting pattern and an incredible backdrop for many kinds of photography.

The old gates, statues and the huge clock at the head of the hall are creating a really interesting atmosphere and I used several hours for exploring the best viewpoints and perspectives.

The new part is also featuring many bold red XXX in connection with a static concrete grey.

The modern architecture is a huge contrast to the historical main hall, but nevertheless its open kind of architecture allows you to shoot across several floors, which lets you create unique perspectives.

At many spots you can even shoot down at a 90° angle, which is especially interesting with the red flooring that is used in most of the new part.

You can create awesome almost “Color Key” like effects.

Its a paradise for urban and street photography.

Street Life

As soon as you are leaving the station, you will find several things that are making Antwerp so special.

1. The many orthodox Jews that are living in the area around the station (with 15.000 orthodox Jews, Antwerps jewish community is one of the biggest in the world).

For me this was definitely an interesting thing to see and photograph, since I never saw a real orthodox Jew in Berlin before. Hats, Sideburns and black jackets everywhere. This creates a really really interesting street atmo.

and

2. The sheer number of jewellers, juwellery supply stores and diamond shops.

After India, Antwerp is one of the worlds biggest centres of diamond cutting and trading.

The shops are everywhere, and walking through this area is simply…impressive.

MAS

Besides these “street sights” I really enjoyed visiting the MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom, which means Museum at the River.

Its a new museum of contemporary art that has been opened just recently (May 2011).

The museum is a tower like building with a lot of glass, that features art as well as a unique view over the city.

And the best is: The view is free.







You can go to any floor including the panorama deck at the top of the building for free, you only need to pay if you want to see any of the exhibitions.

I did not visit any exhibitions but I can tell you, the view is awesome.

The huge waved windows in the top floors in connection with single people standing in front of them makes for incredible scenic photography.

Definitely a must see!

Sint-Anna

One not-so-famous Antwerp sight is the Sint-Annatunnel which underpasses the River Schelde, and which is easily the longest tunnel I ever walked.

Its 572m of straight walking or bycycling, and if you are standing at the beginning of it, you can hardly see the mini black dot that makes for the end.





Its hard to shoot it without any people, since its used quiet frequently during all times of the day (probably its different at night, I have no idea).

With the help of photoshop and the cloning stamp you can definitely shoot amazing architecture or creative photography i.e. one person in the middle of the never ending tunnel etc.

Conclusion

Simply walking around in Antwerp is an experience that you can spend hours with, and I definitely recommend going here if you want to visit a city that sucks you in and wont let you out hundreds of shots later.

A huge Thumbs Up for Antwerp!

Yours

CRAZY IVORY