It was the first evening of our May holiday on Walcheren. A warm day slowly gave way to a calm evening, just as you hope for at the coast. The forecast promised an interesting sky, so we headed towards Westkapelle.
The dike, the North Sea, the open horizon — it’s a place that immediately shifts something inside. Even during dinner, we were already looking out over the water. Ships passed by slowly, and the evening unfolded at its own pace. The kind of waiting that doesn’t feel like waiting.
Struggling and photographing
Just as the sunset began to take shape, a heavy hypo hit me. Type 1 diabetes rarely chooses a convenient moment. Sometimes it feels like the body follows its own rhythm.
Almost instinctively, I reached for dextrose while keeping my eyes on the sky. The colours were building exactly the way you hope on evenings like this. My hands did what they needed to do: set up the tripod, find the composition, steady my breathing.
This Zeeland image is more than a landscape to me. It’s also a quiet reflection of that ongoing struggle. Luctor et emergo — I struggle and I rise. Although it doesn’t always feel balanced. Often, the struggle is more present than the rising.
At that moment, I had no idea that later that week I would end up with a fractured vertebra. But it fits the pattern. Health rarely comes easily; it asks for attention, energy, and sometimes simply endurance.
Breathing along the North Sea
And yet, there is always something about this coastline that gives space again. The wind clears my head, the waves bring rhythm, and the sky allows me to breathe.
Photography plays an important role in that. It slows me down. It helps me to look, instead of think. To be present, even if just for a moment. Especially when my body pushes back, this place helps me stay upright.
Taking something of the moment with you
The images from this evening are available as fine art prints or as digital files. For those who recognize something in the atmosphere of this place, it can be a way to give that moment a place of their own.
View more photos via the link, which, like this one, are part of my portfolio ‘Coast’.