If you like photography or if you think bunkers are awesome, then you should participate in the Bunkerzoom Atlantic Wall Europe photo contest. Just go out and look for hidden treasures all over Europe and create your own image of this bunker heritage.

Who is not familiar with them? Bunkers in the landscape, hidden under the sand or overgrown by nature. They are a remnant of war and an important heritage. They are reminiscent of modern architecture or have become ‘splendid’ ruins. Sometimes they are a canvas for graffiti art or the subject of Urbex photography. They  are an interesting decor for children to play in and around, and for artists to focus their creative energy on.

Post your photograph on Facebook or Instagram using hashtags #bunkerzoom #atlantikwalleurope and #europeforculture. If you want to participate, please be sure to read the rules and regulations first.

Jury

Your work will be evaluated by a jury of professionals. The best 5 photographs will win a GoPro Hero 9 Black. In 2021, your photograph will shine at the photo exhibition on the  Atlantikwall Raversyde (Ostend, Belgium) and in a postcard publication that comes in an exclusive cover. Your photograph will also be displayed at exhibitions in France (Normandy) and the Netherlands.

Bunkerzoom is partly subsidized within the framework of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

This private film shows the Westwall in colour, starting with a rare 40P8 Sechsschartenturm during the construction of a bunker, large earth excavations, a shot of another bunker for Sechsschartenturm and officers around a table.

PhotosNormandie shows high resolution photos of the US Signal Corps and more from 1944 on Flickr. They also have a Youtube channel with raw film material from the same period. There’re a lot of well known images and film images but to see all the raw material is amazing, plus it’s very interesting study material. You can help the project by commenting on both the photos and videos with useful information on the exact location, machinery and armament and the right units.

PhotosNormandie is a collaborative project for social indexing.
The purpose of PhotosNormandie is to make archival images of the Allied invasion of Normandy more easily discoverable by more users and to attempt to correct and supplement their existing metadata.
PhotosNormandie got an Honorable Mention in Best use of crowdsourcing for descriptioncategory of Best Archives on the Web Awards for 2010 (see also here).

We have uploaded 78000 photos since 2007 about the Battle of Normandy (D-Day June 6 to end August 1944).

All photos are available in high resolution and with IPTC/IIM fields embedded.
Photos source is Archives Normandie 1939-1945 web site (in French).
This was a project led by Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie (Regional Council of Basse-Normandie) in 2004, for the D-Day 60th anniversary.

PhotosNormandie on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnormandie/

PhotosNormandie on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd-pnf-84goYFupXpld5bVw

Until the end of March and during July, August and September I’m presenting my photo series ‘Regelbau’ in Kunstfort Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands.

It’s a study on the German standardized bunker from World War Two and its current state both as an historical object and a part of present nature. A fascination for modernist materials such as concrete and steel and how time transforms these buildings into modern time ruins. But also, a fascination for the idea of building permanent fortifications and in what form and size. In less than three years tens of thousands of concrete structures were erected along the European coasts and deep inland.

Løkken, 2013

Løkken, 2013

For the last fifteen years I’ve travelled the European continent to document these defenses. It brought me to remote places, and it helped me grasping the geography of war too.

637, Wissant, 2013

637, Wissant, 2013

The German bunkers show how practical solutions lead to modernist monuments. I also try to open a discussion on their history and whether we should preserve them for future generations.

L 409A, Vigsø, 2013

L 409A, Vigsø, 2013

When: Until the end of march 2014, and during July, August and September. Where: Kunstfort Vijfhuizen, close to Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands.

629, Ambleteuse, 2013

629, Ambleteuse, 2013

http://www.arthurvanbeveren.com/

http://www.kunstfort.nl/kunst/nu-te-zien/688-tt-restaurant-arthur-van-beveren-nu

A very nice video by Marc Tessier using a drone.

A fantastic German wartime film shows the operation of radar and jamming. Partly related to bunkers, it gives an impression of how daily life for Luftwaffe radar crews must have been.

It’s in the National Archives library.

A nice short private film of the casemates of Batterie Longues sur Mer in Normandie. The guns are still there today, but in 1946 you could still operate them.

Source is Cinémathèque de Normandie.

Atlantic Wall Typology, by Rudi Rolf.

Atlantic Wall Typology, by Rudi Rolf.

Fantastic video by Olivier Benoit using a Canon 5d MkII and a drone (small remote controlled plane) of the Karola fire control tower on Île de Ré.

More of his work on http://noibix.com/blog/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camouflaged Dreischartenturm 407P9 in Denmark, probably Hanstholm. (Photo: Collection Frihedsmuseet)

Dreischartenturm 407P9 in Denmark, probably Hanstholm. (Photo: Collection Frihedsmuseet)