Amsterdam Canal — Winter Ice Reflection
167.06 €
The Keizersgracht canal in Amsterdam during a rare Dutch freeze — the canal surface iced over, the 17th-century canal house facades reflected in the ice, a single cyclist visible on the ice sheet, the bare plane trees lining the quay.
Description
The canals of Amsterdam freeze in approximately 1 in 10 winters in the modern climate — sufficient for ice skating when the thickness exceeds 15cm — and the combination of rare natural phenomenon with the city’s distinctive 17th-century canal architecture produces photography of unusual power. This image was made on the Keizersgracht during the 2021 freeze, the ice surface approximately 8cm thick — too thin for skating but sufficient to support a single brave cyclist who had ventured onto the ice from the quay. The canal houses’ reflection in the smooth ice surface doubles the gabled facade detail below the waterline, the reflection interrupted only by the cyclist’s tracks through the thin snow layer on the ice. Shot at f/8 on a 35mm prime in the flat winter light of a February overcast, the image avoids the harsh shadows that would interrupt the reflection surface.
