Salt Shapes 25

Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns, are shallow artificial ponds designed to extract salts from sea water. To make it's sea salt, many companies are using a method called "solar evaporation". Solar salt is produced by the action of sun and wind on seawater in large ponds. The seawater evaporates in successive ponds until the seawater is fully concentrated and the salt then crystallizes on the floor of the pond. Due to variable algal concentrations, vivid colors, from bright blue to deep red, are created in the evaporation ponds. The color indicates the salinity of the ponds.

"See the world from a different perspective — an unusual one. The view from the air is fascinating. In my work, however, photography does not merely document our environment from this atypical perspective; it is much more a (creative) representation of conditions such as structures and forms in their uniqueness. Since nature is in a constant state of change, be it short or long term, each of my works captures a moment that will never happen again. Often the places shown in my works surround us directly, but due to our close proximity, they can hardly be perceived the same way. Whether it is nature or our human influence on it, the result is abstract, partly geometric, but also surreal worlds, which I want to make accessible to everyone."


Kevin Krautgartner is a German architectural and landscape photographer, best known for his aerial images of urban and large ground spaces highlighting the aesthetic value of colors, lines and geometric patterns in them. His oeuvre has been awarded at international contests, and featured in mainstream media.

Krautgartner currently lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany. He graduated from the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts with a degree in photography and graphic design. Digital photography is the basis for his work today. He uses helicopters and light planes to capture his objects -architectural interiors, urban skylines, remote landscapes- from different perspectives which he later uses to digitally select and frame aesthetically appealing views. His landscapes include icy mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, fjords and salt fields in many countries.

Kevin Krautgartner