Ethan WalkerPhotographs & short films

Work / 2024

Still Water

Place
Brandenburg lakes
Made
October – January 2024
Frames
12

Fog over flat lakes, where the line between the trees and their reflection is the only firm edge.

The lakes east of the city sit in country so flat that on a still morning there is almost nothing to photograph: water, a strip of trees, and fog moving across both.

That almost-nothing became the project. I went out on mornings forecast with high humidity and no wind, and made pictures where the far shore is a soft line, doubled in the water, slowly erased and redrawn by the mist.

A still lake in a muted grey-green morning: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0150 mm · f/8 · 1 s · ISO 100
A still lake in almost colourless fog: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0285 mm · f/8 · 1/125 s · ISO 200
A still lake in warm early light filtered through mist: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0335 mm · f/8 · 1/60 s · ISO 400
A still lake in a muted grey-green morning: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0485 mm · f/11 · 1/60 s · ISO 200
A still lake in dim, heavy dusk: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0585 mm · f/5.6 · 1/60 s · ISO 400
A still lake in a muted grey-green morning: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0685 mm · f/5.6 · 1 s · ISO 200
A still lake in almost colourless fog: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0785 mm · f/11 · 1/60 s · ISO 200
A still lake in warm early light filtered through mist: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0885 mm · f/5.6 · 2 s · ISO 100
A still lake in a muted grey-green morning: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 0935 mm · f/11 · 2 s · ISO 200
A still lake in dim, heavy dusk: a soft line of distant trees sits low in the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 1085 mm · f/11 · 1/60 s · ISO 100
A still lake in a muted grey-green morning: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 1135 mm · f/5.6 · 1/60 s · ISO 400
A still lake in almost colourless fog: a soft line of distant trees sits close to the middle of the frame, mirrored in the water and half-dissolved by drifting fog.
No. 1285 mm · f/8 · 2 s · ISO 100

Technical notes

Timing
Half an hour before sunrise to an hour after
Lenses
35, 50 and 85 mm
Exposure
Mostly short; a few one- and two-second frames to calm the surface
Processing
Very gentle; colour kept close to monochrome where the morning was

In the journal