The Maasvlakte is a huge artificial landmass near Rotterdam, where ships unload their cargo and factories process them. The building I photographed there is the Lyondell Chemical Plant.

It had been on my list for quite a while to drive to the Maasvlakte and take photos there. But being an industrial site, it is quite hard to find places that are suitable for a photo. Most interesting plants are blocked by fences, wires, buildings, piles of sand or simply impossible to reach. Lyondell Chemical Plant is fortunately an exception. Not the biggest plant in the area, but certainly one of the more interesting ones.

Visitors are warned however not to come too close, as the ground surrounding the factory is full of ‘dangerous pipes’ as the signs around the plant claim. We did not test this and remained at a safe distance. Luckily I had a lens with me capable of zooming in a little on the action.

I always find it curious how plants like this get built. It seems every pipe and tower has just grown on top of it, like it is alive somehow. There seems to be no system in it at all.

It was extremely cold and the wind was very powerful, making it difficult to get a sharp shot without movement, especially since I shot this one bracketed for HDR processing.