The Floods
of the World
Deserve Witnesses
DOCKS Collective
As a collective, we share a similar view of the world, of what seems important to us.
Usually it's a calm perspective, showing situations sometimes from a distance, allowing a view of the larger context.
Some images and moments only become relevant later, and with others you already know at the moment you press the shutter that everything is just right. The perspective, the light, the composition, and all the elements with which you work to tell the story of an event come together. The relevance of the moment is usually understood when you are in the situation, whether a meaning arises from it in image form, only shows later in the larger context. When we go through the images together in the selection process, it is always clear relatively quickly, which image is the most meaningful and convincing.
This picture was taken in the German village of Dernau on 15.07.21 - the first night after the flood, that took the lives of 186 people and destroyed many houses. Dernau is one of the places most affected in the area of the Ahr Valley. It is part of our personal project and was later published in various German and international media. The picture has also been chosen as one of TIME’s photos of 2021, and was on the cover of Die Zeit's flood issue.
We saw rescuers with a flashlight in a rubber boat, slowly floating through the village looking for survivors. It was very quiet, and the lifeguards' flashlight was the only source of light. It was one of those scary yet magical moments that speaks to the tragedy perhaps more than all the horrific photos of the devastation.
None of us had worked with such topics or seen disasters like this in Germany with our own eyes before. We were so overwhelmed with emotion from what we saw that we weren't sure we would go back there again. At this point on the hill, we were able to catch our breath and literally look at what had happened from the outside.
There was still water everywhere, no electricity, and someone was singing SOS from the balcony of their house, because it was impossible to get out on their own.
This picture is a part of our photographic essay, The Flood in Western Germany, which documents the destruction, pain, and hardships of rebuilding in the flooded areas, over a period of one year. Since July 15, 2021 we have been photographing as a collective in the affected regions, building relationships, accompanying evacuation and repatriation, following emergency workers and volunteers. We document our experiences and how those affected dealt with this catastrophe of the century.