Amsterdam Diemerzeedijk IBS-code 025-007 (1986) by Wout Berger. © Wout Berger

This is a photograph from the series Poisoned Landscapes by Wout Berger, the project that established his name. This was one of the most polluted sites in Europe. At the time the operators accepted nearly everything and chemical industries from all over Europe dumped their waste there, sometimes causing strange chemical reactions. Today it is a park, but the site is monitored 24/7. There is only low vegetation as it is not possible to grow plants or trees with deep roots.

Photographs from When I Open My Eyes by Wout Berger. © Wout Berger. Courtesy ZIC ZERP GALERIE

In the morning, when I open my eyes, the first thing I look at is the IJsselmeer and the light: always the same, always different.

When I Open My Eyes by Wout Berger, is currently on view at Museum De Pont in Tilburg until January 6, 2013. From January 10 until February 3, 2013 the series will be on view at Gallery ZIC ZERP in Rotterdam. Wout Berger took numerous pictures of the IJsselmeer all from exactly the same view point. The series consists of 60 pictures.

I recently saw three of them at an exhibition at Loods 6, but I believe the magic only happens when they are exhibited as a series, just  like for example Clouds by Sol LeWitt. I haven’t seen the works on view at Museum De Pont yet, but I assume they show the large format photographs (120 x 150 cm) and I think visually it will be absolutely stunning.

The book When I open My Eyes is published by Fotohof.