WHY THIS WEBSITE?
The aim is primarily to show the architectural and landscape photographs I made according to my own (very special) style, of every nice thing in our country.
Moreover, you can plan a trip (mostly) to one of our more than 100 cities and 400 municipalities, with a nice look in advance on the (hidden and/or unknown) historical and modern treasures.
HISTORY
Until the end of 1999 I was a professional photographer, specializing in industrial and architectural photography. Since 17 years my focus has been entirely on travel photography, mainly abroad.
The results of my travel pictures in BELGIUM can be viewed on this website after typing a municipality name under the map. If there are no pictures of that city then no one has been made yet.
FROM THE OLD BOX
Large (art)cities have been photographed more often and earlier on than rural municipalities. Some of the pictures are already 30-40 years old. What is visible on these pictures may not exist anymore (e.g. industrial buildings in Vilvoorde - dancing halls in Asse, Destelbergen ...). What is left however is 'cultural heritage' and in that sense beautiful to look at.
DIVERSITY OF PHOTOS
The photos usually involve artistic, ancient but also ultramodern buildings and sites in cities ... and beautiful landscapes in rural municipalities.
When shooting photos, preference was given to thematic work:
- Flemish beguinages (UNESCO World Heritage): Antwerp, Bruges, Dendermonde, Diest, Ghent, Hoogstraten, Kortrijk, Louvain (2 different), Lier, Mechelen, Sint-Truiden, Tongeren and Turnhout.
Included are also pictures of beguinages which are not on the Unesco World Heritage list: Aarschot, Anderlecht, Diksmuide, Hasselt, Herentals, Oudenaarde and Tienen.
- Belgian belfries (UNESCO): Aalst, Antwerp (2 diff.), Binche, Bruges, Brussels, Charleroi, Dendermonde, Diksmuide, Eeklo, Gembloux, Ghent, Herentals, Kortrijk, Lo-Reninge, Louvain, Lier, Mechelen (2 diff.), Menen, Mons, Namur, Nieuwpoort, Oudenaarde, Roeselare, Sint-Truiden, Thuin, Tielt, Tienen, Tongeren, Tournai, Veurne, Ypres and Zoutleeuw.
- The interiors of castles: Bouillon, Deinze (Ooidonk), Ghent (Gravensteen), Lennik (Gaasbeek), Lier (cityhall) and Torhout (Wijnendale).
Cultural topics listed by city or municipality:
- Antwerp: Plantin-Moretus museum (UNESCO World Heritage) – 'Maison Guiette' of Le Corbusier (UNESCO) – Central Station – MAS – Zurenborg – Cathedral of Our Lady – Port House – ZOO – Middelheim sculptures park – Ruien (underground Medieval drainage) – Rubenshuis (house of Rubens)
- Baarle-Hertog: Belgian enclaves in the Netherlands – Dead wire
- Bastogne: Mardasson Memorial
- Binche: medieval city walls
- Blegny: Blegny-Mine (UNESCO)
- Bouillon: medieval fortress
- Boussu: Le Grand Hornu (UNESCO)
- Brugelette: Pairi Daiza
- Bruges: historical center (UNESCO)
- Brussels: Grand-Place (UNESCO) – Jugendstil-houses of Horta (UNESCO) – government buildings (European, federal & Flemish) – Royal palaces – house of the European history
- Charleroi: Bois du Cazier (UNESCO) – Caterpillar
- Châtelet: Charbonage du Gouffry (urbex)
- Colfontaine: industrial archeology
- Durbuy: dolmen and menhirs
- Eupen: High Moors
- Genk: C-mine – Bokrijk
- Gesves: Bisonzon (urbex)
- Ghent: Gravensteen – Krook
- Hasselt: Japanese garden
- Hoeilaart + La Hulpe + Sint-Genesius-Rode + Watermaal-Bosvoorde/Watermael-Boitsfort: Sonian Forest (UNESCO)
- Ixelles: EU government buildings
- Izegem: Eperon d'Or
- Kalmthout: moorland – arboretum
- La Louvière: boat lifts (UNESCO) – Bois-du-Luc (UNESCO)
- Lessines: mechanical boat loader – porphyry quarries
- Liège: train station of Liège-Guillemins – Montagne de Bueren
- Maaseik: typical Maasland housing facades
- Mechelen: Saint Rumbold’s Cathedral – Planckendael
- Namur: citadel
- Nivelles: Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude
- Rochefort: caves of Han-sur-Lesse
- Ronse: Saint Hermes crypt
- Saint-Gilles: museum of Horta (UNESCO)
- Saint-Hubert: Fourneau Saint-Hubert
- Scherpenheuvel-Zichem: Maiden Tower
- Sint-Truiden: murals in the beguinage church (UNESCO)
- Tongeren: Gallo-Roman museum
- Torhout: castles
- Tournai: Cathedral of Our Lady (UNESCO)
- Verviers: city stairs
- Villers-la-Ville: abbey
- Woluwe-Saint-Pierre: Stoclet Palace (UNESCO)
- Ypres: World War I-relics
- Zoutleeuw: art treasures – the Vinne
Additionally photos were added about events and festivities. After all, they also belong to the municipal heritage and sometimes even to the Unesco Intangible Cultural Worldheritage. There are, for example, pictures of the carnivalesque Gilles of Binche (UNESCO) - Voil Jeanetten (men dressed as dirty women): carnival of Aalst (UNESCO) - the Pjeirefretters (horse eaters) of Vilvoorde - the stilt walkers of Merchtem and Namur - the falconry (UNESCO) in for instance Antwerp, Brugelette and Bouillon - the Antwerp Summer festival - the Giants Procession of Lier (25th annually) - folk dance festival of Mortsel - ...
In total 135 industrial and architectural photographs, made in 33 municipalities, were added to the database. These pictures were made during my professional period at these specific locations only (Antwerp, Beerse, Brussels, Ghent, Grimbergen, Lennik, Overijse, Rumst, Saint-Hubert, Steenokkerzeel, Vilvoorde, Zaventem, ...) except for the pictures made on behalf of Caterpillar (Charleroi): these were taken throughout Belgium as well as in the UK, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
At first you find photos made in urban and residential areas. After that, photos picturing the natural environment, then those about the cultural events in their specific location are presented and finally the old photos.
MOIRE
Several pictures, mainly of buildings, have a very peculiar pattern. A clear example is shown here. It is a picture that can be found in the folder of Tournai: on the left you see a fragment (24%) of the image as can be seen in the map – shown on the right is the same fragment, but from the original, non-reduced photo.
The pattern on the left picture is caused by reducing the photo size from 4.21 Mb (4210 Kb) to 343 Kb. This results in Moiré = interference between the fine details in the image and the grid of the pixels.
This pattern is NOT visible at the original (non size-reduced) pictures.
A better example of a moiré image in contrast to the original one can be seen in Deinze's photo serie (Ooidonk Castle). There I have an original picture (4410 Kb strong) - although with a powerful watermark - placed directly behind the reduced image (347 Kb). Notice the big difference !!
More information about moiré can be found on the Internet.
DATABASE OF PHOTOS
The photo files are updated continuously. New photos are uploaded weekly.
On the homepage of this website a table shows what was recently photographed, when and where.
A technical note:
The photos can be displayed on any screen, but in order to see them in optimal conditions, it is recommended to use a computerscreen displaying at least 2560x1440 pixels. The best result gives a 4K screen (3840x2160 pixels). With 'optimal conditions' we mean that the ratio of oblong to square pictures remains correct, so that each photo has the same surface.
OPTIMISATION
Do you find errors on this website (e.g. pictures shown are made in another municipality) or you have interesting observations in order to optimize the website, please notify me by email.
At a later stage, there is a need for assistance to expand and optimize the website. Someone who can improve my translation to German would be welcome.
Also, I'm looking for someone who is perfectly familiar with the Adobe Illustrator and Wordpress combination for a complex project within this site.
My mail address: guido@vloeberghs.be
COPYRIGHTS
All photos are copyrighted (supervision by SOFAM). On each photo a watermark has been placed. It is absolutely not allowed to download my pictures and use them without my knowledge. If you are interested in obtaining one or more pictures, they are available in high definition and, of course, without watermark.
