A chance visit to a digital exhibition led Christophe Hetzmannseder to create an eye-catching image as he walked by an exhibit. And while the photograph at the time was nothing more than a passing thought, the message behind it should be anything but that.
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I’m writing this while I’m currently in the middle of the hottest summer I’ve experienced in my lifetime. On the other side of the world, wildfires in Maui have left alarming destruction and devastation in their wake. Most of us are not the kind to stand up and take action of some sort. But we can’t deny that it seems to be getting warmer with each passing year for at least a decade now. And bringing this to the attention of the oblivious many is what Christoph Hetzmannseder wanted to do with this photograph. A hobbyist photographer for over two decades now, he was bitten by the photography bug when he received a point-and-shoot Canon IXUS one day.
How Christophe Came To Photography
It was in his genes, but it just took a few decades for the passion to be activated. “I guess I grew up unnoticed about my photography passion because my father is a professional photographer. When I was younger, taking photos never interested me,” Christophe says about his childhood. But all that changed when he received that little camera. “From this point on, my passion for photography was suddenly activated.”
The Gear Used By Christoph Hetzmannseder
- Fujifilm XT-2
- Fujifilm XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6R
- Fujifilm XF 35mm F1.4 R
- Samyang 10mm fisheye
- Fujifilm XF 10-24mmF4 R OIS
- Fujifilm XF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6
An impressive lineup, but I did make a mental note of the slightly outdated Fujifilm XT-2 model in his lineup. A capable model no doubt however, I wondered if Christophe never had the urge to upgrade like many of us with persistent GAS attacks.
“I know every setting and option on this camera even with my eyes closed,” came the quick response from him. That’s a confident feeling he has now, especially as it took a long time for him to adjust to this model, having moved over to Fujifilm from Canon. “I am still very satisfied with the performance, High ISO quality, and compact style. Therefore I see currently no reason why I should update my gear. When I invest in new hardware I do so in lenses.”
The Shot
It wasn’t a photo Christophe Hetzmannseder planned to take, but one that he chanced upon while visiting an exhibition in Vienna. “It was just a perfect situation with a great set-up with no planning before. Indeed it was a snapshot,” he confesses.
“It was an art light projection with differents scenes and sounds in a big hall. I saw this big wall with the massive sun projection setting with the girl lying on the floor and enjoying the show. So I took my camera and Climate Change was born”
Christoph Hetzmannseder
The Message
Upon retrospection, Christophe realizes the image has a bigger meaning than just a photo. “For me, it had this futuristic, surreal scenery. A big hot sun and a world, which is getting hotter and hotter, but people don’t realize it and still relaxing and taking sunbaths,” he reflects. On being questioned about the reality of the situation, Christophe reiterated that action was necessary. “A human-made climate change is there, for sure. See all the news: hot temperature records, floods, dryness. Something in every part of the world and this has been going on for a long time now.” He calls on other photographers to do their bit to raise awareness. “It’s very important to document, particularly as a photographer all these happenings and these extreme changes to draw attention to this them” he concludes.
All images by and used with permission from Christoph Hetzmannseder. Visit his Flickr and Instagram pages to see more of his work