Archaeology of Imagination

A visual exploration of the ruins of Hydrierwerke Pölitz, seen as fragments of a forgotten planet. A journey through memory and imagination captured with Nikon D80, Tokina 100 mm and fisheye lenses.

Project Description

A photographic series created in the ruins of the former Hydrierwerke Pölitz factory, a place that has drawn me back for years not as a documentarian but as an explorer of memory’s landscapes. The images were captured with a Nikon D80, using both a Tokina 100 mm lens and a fisheye lens. The Tokina allowed me to explore detail and texture, while the fisheye introduced gentle distortion, softness and a trace of time that lets imagination breathe. This is not a reconstruction of history. It is an attempt to revisit the first planet on which I learned how to see.

Narrative

Not so long ago, the world felt much larger. Back then, the ruins of an old factory were the only planet where one could land without asking anyone for permission. There was no Internet, but there were books by Lem, Nienacki and Twain, two television channels and an imagination that filled every gap between what was known and what was possible.

I do not return here to document the ruins. I know them well. I return to find fragments of a world that was my first planet. I am not looking for history or facts. I am searching for traces of an old landscape that taught me how to look before I learned how to understand.

Each frame is like a recording from an expedition camera.
This is not nostalgia. It is discovery.
This is not memory. It is archaeology of imagination. These are not ruins of an old factory. This is the place where I learned to see.
A planet that exists only in memory, yet can still be visited if you know where to find the entrance.

Gear

Nikon D80
Tokina AT‑X PRO Macro 100 mm f/2.8
Samyang Fish-eye CSII 8 mm f/3.5
Natural light and minimal postprocessing inspired by analog imperfections

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