Destruction of the relics of the past and closure of the mines leads to the end of an era here in Luxembourg. This evolution has not begun recently. For many years now our industrial patrimony is being destroyed and closed. Having lived my life in a region of Luxembourg that shaped the whole image of this country and the whole greater region, it is very sad for me to see all those relics being closed and destroyed, that gave testimony of the hard work that our ancestors have achieved for our prosperity.
Many associations have fought to preserve some of these industrial monuments, but the politicians don't seem to be interested to pay homage to our grandfathers and grandmothers that worked hard for this country. Our neighboring countries are still working hard to preserve some of these souvenirs and to convert them to industrial museums as a testimonial of those years that gave us the prosperity and quality of life we enjoy to have nowadays. But exactly this prosperity has brought us to forget about those of us that worked hard and sacrificed their lives for us. But this behavior seems to be limited to the country of Luxembourg. The politicians in Luxemburg spurn these monuments and convert them to vulgar decoration objects for megalomanic developments as it has been done in Esch/Belval. Sad... but true...
The latest news I got is about the closure of the iron ore mine called "Flora". The last load of iron ore left this huge underground world called the Montrouge in 1997. It was iron ore that went from the french part of this wonderful underground labyrinth. I do not want to say that it is important to keep those places accessible but it is sad to see the entrances buried under a pile of rocks and earth. Therefore I have now decided to show the pictures from inside this huge mine publicly. I didn't have done so before because I didn't want to incite unexperienced spelunkers to visit those places.
The pictures (and a small captivating movie) can be found under Mine Montrouge in the Industrial Speleology section.
Being bound to stay at home due to some unfortunate circumstances, I have decided to process some more pictures and make some research about the new "Urbex-Trend", to post a new article about this trend in the FAQ on Urban Exploration and to make some minor updates to the layout of the website.
As already mentioned, I have processed some more shots I have taken in ECVB. And.... as always... don't forget to get back regularly because I am always processing older shots from my unprocessed pictures that are still waiting their turn to be added into the galleries. One of the latest pictures I have posted on Flickr dates from August 2008.
The exhibition "Konscht um Bau" was a big success. The artists were very happy because there were permanently visitors all along the whole week-end. That's why I would like to thank all the people who went to this event because everyone has participated to its success. A lot of art has been sold by this occasion and I think the buyers are all very satisfied about their purchases.
The last week-end I have finished the development of my new website called UrbanVisions. Unlike LuxUrbex, UrbanVisons is a photographer portfolio. This website has less features than LuxUrbex. You'll be able to read my biography, send me a message and browse the essence of my photographic work; the best pictures I have taken so far. The whole interface is written in Flash and is very animated.
I do not intend to replace LuxUrbex. My intention was to create a website dedicated to Fine Art Photography, rather than Urbex. My goal was always to fulfill my creative vision with my photography which stands in contrast to Photojournalism and very often to Urbex, as is. Artistic photography is for me a means to show my vision of the world and my way of thinking.
I hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave me a feedback. LuxUrbex will stay unchanged. You'll still find all the news about my explorations and the latest pictures.
This book contains all my favorite pictures of the last two years of explorations. You may preview and buy it directly from the editor. Thank you for supporting my work.
I have spent the whole evening to build a new layout for my picture galleries. It was very difficult to find a layout that is easily browsable and very extendable. At this time I don't really know how long I will continue to add content to my website. Another question is the quantity of content that will be added in the future. Probably there will be less content because I have decided to improve the quality and therefore the quantity of pictures will surely decrease. Please do not hesitate to add comments or leave me a message if you have any suggestions on how to improve my webpage.
Thanks a lot for your visit and have fun browsing through my picture galleries.
During the last couple of weeks I have received a lot of messages requesting me to send location information and addresses. I think location sharing is very important to give other people the opportunity to visit new places, knowing that we all respect some ethics regarding the places we visit. I will continue to share locations with people I met personally and those I can trust due to their reputation. But I will not reply to messages from people I don’t know asking me for locations.
I hope you understand my position and don’t take this personally.
You may have noticed that I have modified the layout of the website. You may now subscribe to the news feed and leave comments.
About impermanence and the way to improve your picture galleries
Written by Shantideva
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 19:08
I have decided to take a little break from Urbex photography. I will still continue to take pictures but I want to change my style and discover new horizons. Urbex photography, as is, is often only the documentation of an abandoned place, no matter what quality your picture is. My aim is to take good pictures to show them on my website. So, my website is also changing. I will delete all the documentary pictures from the whole Urbex gallery. The Industrial Speleology gallery, accessible only through login, will not change. I love the past of my beloved Minette country. I will continue to provide new pictures from deep inside the heart of what made us all what we are today here in Luxemburg. So, my mining pictures will not be affected.
Everything is subject to impermanence and changing all the time. So am I, and also my pictures, and my way of life and thinking. ;-)
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