Red Grid

Mining has been and is being carried out in the greater Leipzig area and throughout central Germany for many decades, especially in opencast lignite mining. During coal mining, the groundwater that flows in has to be pumped out regularly, which leads to a sharp drop in the groundwater level.
After the end of the coal mining, opencast mines are flooded and the landscape is extensively rehabilitated - the groundwater level rises again. In order to control the effects of this increase as well as the quality of the groundwater, the local company LMBV (Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft) has built a grid of red colored measuring points.

Hundreds of these points can be found scattered around the former opencast mines. One can almost understand these ubiquitous formations as monuments to the large-scale changes in landscape and nature.

During bike rides around the various lakes, I noticed the red installations again and again, I also noticed more and more inconsistencies in the details - they almost have individuality. Intrigued, I began photographing them - or "portraying" them?
Once encountered, I only discovered more and more of them... Many individual or group shots have been - and continue to be - joined by authentic (and near-authentic) shots in the context of people, traffic and more.

I have put together a small selection from the almost 200 photos I've taken so far.