Imaging The Netherlands 008: Four-Wheeled Ugly Duck in BREDA (NB)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

008: Yellow four-wheeled duck

These two steam horses on four wheels were very popular in the Netherlands during the sixties, seventies and eighties. They were called ‘(ugly) ducks’, while the Belgian neighbors prefer to call them ‘goats’. Some friends of mine had such a duck, and sometimes I joined one of them for a ride. It was then quite a challenge and an adventure to drive these two horsepowers on the highway and on the hills. One time, I even went with such a ‘tin snail’ to Germany, for a visit to an amusement park. This duckling was parked in the center of Breda. According to the numerous adhesives on the extended trunk, it had experienced many adventures throughout Europe.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2010, 2017

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Imaging Brazil 319: Streetview from Casa da Glória in Diamantina, MG (2011)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

319: View from Casa da Glória

Diamantina is a historic mining town at about three hundred kilometers from Belo Horizonte. Although the lion’s share of the Federal University of the state of Minas Gerais is in the capitals Pampulha Campus, some small institutes are located in other cities. Among them is the Institute of Geological Sciences (Instituto Casa da Glória). The site was built at the end of the eighteenth century, and was inhabited by Dona Josefa Maria da Glória. Eventually, it was inhabited by bishops, and by the religious order of Saint Vincent de Paul. When this order took possession of a house across the street, a wooden crossed walkway (‘passadiço’) was built between the two houses. The photo was taken from this walkway. The building also has housed a notorious orphanage and a girls’ school.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2011, 2017