5500K Magazine - Red Bull Photography

Title: Two Different Worlds - Marcel Lammerhirt         Publication: 5500K Magazine (Print & Online)

Industry: Photography         www.redbullphotography.com/5500k-magazine

TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

"The melting of our glaciers and the general changes in nature have concerned me for some time, so I am all the more pleased to be able to realize a project which focuses on exactly this topic" says photographer Marcel Lämmerhirt.

'Two Different Worlds' combines two different eras in one image, separated by a glass box. Outside the box is the real world – the now. Inside the box is a 1920's skier – representing a time when the Rhone Glacier stretched far below the valley floor. Since then, it has retreated 1500 meters and is expected to have melted away completely within 100 years.

After two months of preparation it was time for the team to head to Switzerland's Rhone Glacier. The weather was forecast to be changeable, but conflicting appointments meant the shoot could not be rearranged. It was now or never.

The plan was to set up the box in the afternoon, and to shoot at sunrise the following morning. Before that, with the help of the Rhone Glacier Cave staff, 600kgs of equipment had to be transported across the glacier.

On arrival, visibility was poor and the rain fell constantly whilst the team searched for the perfect shoot location. The team quickly set up the box on the glacier, hoping visibility would improve. A one square-metre opal glass pane at the base of the box enabled the skier to be illuminated from below. And from above, an LED torch and a Nikon SB 900 flash bathed the 1920's skier in a beam of light, much like a museum exhibit.

With the first test photos complete, the crew covered the box in blankets and tarpaulin and got a few hours rest. When the 3am alarm sounded, Marcel and the crew were relieved to see the weather was perfect. The crew worked hard for several hours in the 5° cold to ensure the project was a huge success.

Marcel's images now capture a distinct moment in time and he wishes to thank his team, in particular Gerhard – who stood motionless inside the box for the duration of the shoot – for making this project possible.