IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All pictures regarding still accessible abandoned locations have been hidden to prevent further deterioration of those locations. Don't ask me anything about those locations neither for access to the pictures! Thank you!

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Born in 1970 in Paris, he lived since his earliest days in Luxembourg. He is an nonprofessional photographer documenting the decay of urban and industrial structures across Luxembourg, France and Germany. There is an undercurrent of haunting, solemn nostalgia in Jean-Claude Berens’ photographs, with his often formal compositions and almost painterly rendition of light perfectly conveying the mood he finds in his subjects. His work is reminiscent of Simon Marsden’s series on supposedly haunted sites in England, and like Marsden, he uses a special technique of photography that has proven an uncanny match for his theme. He has developed a love for decay because he realized there is actually tremendous beauty in decay. And indeed, Jean-Claude has a lot of beauty in decline to show, with a variety of picturesque subjects.

His explorations have taken him into old, disused burial crypts, abandoned farmhouses, medieval castles and a multitude of mothballed industrial sites. He has got into this type of photography while privately researching the history and culture of Luxembourg and of his ancestors. Though born in Paris, Jean-Claude grew up and still resides in the tiny but once heavily industrialized country of Luxembourg. Rich in iron, Luxembourg had a profusion of mines and smelters from the latter nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. Many of these sites have now been closed down and abandoned.

A hobby photographer since the age of 13, when he shot black and white and had his own darkroom. Jean-Claude considers himself entirely self-taught, easily coming to understand digital photography thanks to his background in analog photography and his professional role as an IT network and security specialist. He considers Ansel Adams and Buddhist philosopher Shantideva his visual and spiritual mentors, and indeed there is a very Buddhist sensitivity to impermanence in his photographs. He became known for his photographs through his website, UrbanVisions and after several exhibits on the theme, published a book.

Photography is a challenge and adventure for Jean-Claude, who notes that his most memorable photographs are those where he entered a site and was able to take only one shot.

Jean-Claude has come to prefer a subtle, realistic style of HDR imaging, just enough to bring out the richness of detail in the scene. His photography has attracted a strong following over the Internet, and a series of them have been used as covers for crime thrillers. The images have an extraordinary quality to them, eerie yet not morbid, depicting very static subjects yet inviting dynamic exploration of the frame, demonstrating how a photographer can adopt a technique and find his ‘voice’ in it. Most of all, they are very evidently the products of a deep passion. “I think now that my two passions, decay and photography, are deeply interdependent,” says Jean-Claude. “I could continue one without the other, but this burning passion, this deep love for those places, abandoned by the crowds, so full of serenity, would not be the same if I could not bring back some glimpses of decay and impermanence in a life where we all grasp for a permanence we could never reach.”

(source: Digital Photographer)
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We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti


If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?
- Shantideva

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My portfolio: www.urbanvisions.lu

Photos of Shantideva (26)

  • 019_CK_Canon_PRO-2 by Pitsch's Pics
  • ´X`Eisenerz´X` by MNPhotogr@phy ☆100.000 views thx to all☆
  • by CKr.
  • Selfportrait by Shantideva
  • hassy_port_bw002.jpg by dr_kim_veis [''o ]
  • Untertage_03 by MNPhotogr@phy ☆100.000 views thx to all☆
  • IDN03 by sigma.
  • Carrière Caestert_02 by MNPhotogr@phy ☆100.000 views thx to all☆
  • HI FRUCTOSE Volume 17 - Beauty in Decay Article by Romany WG
  • Beauty in Decay OUT NOW! by Romany WG
  • Quarries system "M", The TU Tour by Frits Vrielink | Photography and Design
  • Quarries system "M", The TU Tour by Frits Vrielink | Photography and Design
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Shantideva's favorite photos from other Flickr members (241)

  • by Maxime Wojtczak
  • Tomorrow Never Knows by suspiciousminds
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  • Leiden #2 by vetbonkie
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  • Dead Tree by frank-heinen-photographer
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Testimonials (7)

  • view profile

    gtaddei1 (ex gtaddei) says:

    "I decided to post my impressions about Shantideva not to judge him in good or bad, but I wanted to communicate my feelings looking at his art .
    To communicate beauty in decay, rust and dust is apparently a contradiction but Shantideva succeeded through the perfect knowledge of the gears to express a real beauty in all his pictures.
    Death is beauty as it is the ultimate sense of our life and often we appreciate things and thoughts only after their disappearing.
    The rounded lines , the triangular compos, the right distances of the different "points" to one - another... associated to a perfect balance of light and colours are the code for our mind to see in a picture the beauty as Shantideva composed his fine-arts.

    Most of us are frightened of dying because we don't know what it means to live. We don't know how to live, therefore we don't know how to die. As long as we are frightened of life we shall be frightened of death. The man who is not frightened of life is not frightened of being completely insecure for he understands that inwardly, psychologically, there is no security. When there is no security there is an endless movement and then life and death are the same. The man who lives without conflict, who lives with beauty and love, is not frightened of death because to love is to die.
    Jiddu Krishnamurti

    So to obtain the beauty from the dead things is in an absurd way the same as representing a pregnant women with her hands folded on the belly as to protect the life which is coming... so is doing the death , it is announcing life.

    Thank you Shantideva, ..."

    10th November, 2009

  • view profile

    frank-heinen-photographer says:

    "Seit einem halben Jahr beobachte ich jetzt schon Jean Claudes wirken und schaffen und ich werde immer wieder aufs Neue überrascht.
    Er hat ein Gespür für die Stimmung eines Motivs und besitzt auch die Fähigkeit das ganze fotografisch perfekt umzusetzen.
    Ein echter Profi!"

    1st July, 2009

  • view profile

    ~EvidencE~ says:

    "One of my fav photographer's Shantideva....
    His work is very inspiring. Quality HDR Images and his composition and process is killer. He makes decay look delicious. I Hope one day to shoot with Shantideva in his playgrounds. His book LuxUrbex is now part of my urban exploration collection.
    ~e"

    10th May, 2009

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    Loke.be- says:

    "Jean-Claude is a top photographer and a friendly guy. He have an amazing observation ability. Do yourself a favor by browsing around his Flickr or his website... you'll be amazed! I met him for the first time to visit some urbex locations in Luxembourg and the second time for a mine exploration. Both were impressive days. Can't wait for our next meeting/explo. Congratulations JC for your work so far!"

    7th May, 2009

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    Maxime Wojtczak says:

    "Jean-Claude and I have met to visit one of the urbex gem of Luxembourg. It was nice to meet him and other luxembourgish explorers at the CT.
    I appreciate his photographic work since it really honors the industrial and mining history, without forgetting the image beauty.
    Moreover, his pseudonym arouses my curiosity about Shantideva, and I consider it a plus !"

    2nd September, 2008

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    Martino ~ NL says:

    "I was fortunate enough to meet up with Shantideva for an awesome day of exploring in Luxembourg. Already a fan of his work it was great to see how he does it. He doesn't shoot just something, he frames his photos through the lens. Check out some of the symmetrical fish-eye shots he has made!
    Shantideva is a great observer, a very nice guy, a good explorer and hopefully we will meet again in the very near future."

    27th July, 2008

  • view profile

    s-p-a-k-o says:

    "Shantideva has some really awe-inspiring work in his Galleries and on his website... I admire his way to see all the details I always miss while exploring in his company and I learned a lot through him! a great artist with amazing skill and techniques, and an eye for the special stuff around!"

    13th July, 2008

Joined:
July 2007
I am:
Male and Taken
Website:
Urbanvisions