I came up with the idea of "Empty Spaces" when shooting my last blog about 'Minimalism", and what better place to find suitable shots but across Frankfurt's 'U-Bahn' network on a Sunday. Join me for some interesting architecture and solitary shots!
For a city of only c.750,000 people, Frankfurt has an extensive transport network covering bus, rail, tram, and underground network. Its underground Untergrundbahn 'U-Bahn' network covers 86 stations on 9 lines, operating since 1968.
Whilst I was shooting my last blog post around 'Minimalism', I was in the main train station and saw an unusually empty scene, which at any other time would have been full of commuters. That's when the idea for an 'Empty Spaces' post came to me, I thought how cool would it be to take shots of empty U-Bahn stations, particularly as some of them have some pretty cool architecture.
Given Germany is a highly predictable country, I was pretty certain most of these stations would be very empty on a Sunday, and I was right! I had scoped out a few of the more interesting stations to go check out, so I picked up a daily travel pass and off I went.
About the shots
All shots were taken with my Hasselblad 501c camera, coupled with a 50mm wide angle lens and on Kodak Portra 400 film. I hadn't used this lens for a while, and it really excels in close spaces and architectural type shots. I decided to shoot everything handheld, as I didn't really want to drag around a tripod and set it up each time. Other than a few shots, most of them came out clear enough.
'Westend'. One of my favourite stations, with some really funky columns on either exit. Some nice leading lines in this shot all the way through the empty station to the tunnel.
'Festhalle/Messe'. You cannot imagine how busy this station is during an exhibition ("Messe" as they call it here). Frankfurt's Messe is the 3rd largest in the world, after Hannover and Shanghai. Interestingly, 4 of the world's 8th largest exhibition halls are in Germany.
This was actually a really hard shot to expose for given the very dark / black part of the tunnel on the left and the really bright area on the right.
'Alte Oper'. Station stop of Frankfurt's Old Opera House (inaugurated 1880, completely destroyed in the war, and rebuilt in the 1970s, reopening in 1981)
I decided to scan the full negative for fun, as it is an effect I had seen around but never tried it.
'Willy-Brandt-Platz'. This is one where I could have done with a tripod, but just used my bag instead. Not as crisp sharp as a digital photo, but that is fine by me. I should have photoshopped the guy on the right out of the shot to make it really empty!
'Festhalle/Messe'. Another shot from a different vantage point. The lift takes you up to street level, hence all the natural light coming in to the shot. I like the composition of this shot.
'Zoo'. Pretty obvious if you look at the art work. Always a nice station to go through as everyone who gets off seems to be very happy, as I can only assume they are going to the Zoo!
'Willy-Brandt-Platz'. More funky architecture, and even though there is no one in the frame, it is still a very busy shot! I like all the different types of geometry going on.
More Zoo artwork.
'Westend'. Kinda looks like an alien spaceship, if you ask me! I think most people are oblivious to this type of architecture, as they are always too busy commuting through an underground station. It is amazing how much detail there is if you stop and observe for a few minutes.
'Schweizer Platz', in the centre of Frankfurt's bustling Sachsenhausen district. Another shot where I was really pleased with the composition.
Straight lines wherever you look!
'Ostbahnhof'. My home stop, also very empty!
A different angle of 'Willy-Brandt-Platz' stop.
More empty stairs at 'Schweizer Platz'. You would think these shots were taken in the middle of the night, actually closer to 9am on a Sunday!
"Follow me". One of the exits at 'Festhalle/Messe'. I really like the lighting in this shot, it works very well when converted to black & white.
Next departure Platform 1 @ Ostbahnhof
Empty stations, empty trains!
Another cool exit at 'Westend' station. I also decided to scan the whole negative here, it's an interesting look, although sometimes the image does not come out fully straight if you do it that way. Still, at least it makes a fun frame for the shot!
Straight ahead for the Exit.
Overall observations
I really enjoyed the process of collecting these shots for this post, I am really happy with how well they came out and how EMPTY every shot was! I certainly would have had cleaner, sharper images if I had used a tripod, or a digital camera for that matter. That being said, it was great fun to use the Hasselblad again and take ages composing each shot. Aside from whether the shots are clean or not, the depth of medium format photography always surprises me. I keep on coming back to the 6x6 format, and I really like to compose shots with this view.
Kodak Portra 400 is always a consistent film, perhaps my most consistent colour film. I was also glad to have a bit of extra speed given the lack of light in some of the shots.
Most importantly, taking a few hours out to shoot 'Empty Spaces' has reinforced how much there is around us, if we just pay attention to it. So with that in mind, grab a camera and get back out there to shoot something interesting!
See you next time,
Neil
