Island of Ruegen, Sassnitz

Following in the steps of the painter Caspar David Friedrich....?

This photograph was taken in the Nationalpark Jasmund, on the north eastern coast of Ruegen, a few kilometres south of the famed - dare I pronounce the word iconic? - Koenigstuhl and not at all far from the Wissower Klinken.

This image composed itself gradually. The couple arrived for a picnic without even noticing my presence. I experimented with photos from several vantage points, this photo is the one I am most happy with.

My hope that one or the other of them might raise an arm and gesture towards the chalk cliffs was not realised. If you look more closely you will discover a wine bottle, which would have never figured in any of Friedrich's own paintings. And if you don't know what on earth I am talking about, just google Caspar David Friderich and look at some of his images.

If you look at the magnified version of this photo you should be able to discern several other people, some below and others above the cliffs.

(For what it is worth, I think Friedrich would have approved of this photo.)

To explain a little further, we walked through the beech forest of the National Park, out path taking us almost to the edge of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ironically I am less aware of the precise boundaries of the Jurassic Coast UNESCO site, but as an inhabitant of Purbeck I myself may just comprise part of the World's Heritage.