Sven Zacek captures Estonia’s changing landscapes from above

Estonian nature photographer Sven Zacek told ERR’s “Ringvaade” that he is not interested in processed images because nature itself offers extraordinary views. He said his new photo book, “Pääsukese Eestimaa,” presents Estonia from above in 240 photographs.

Zacek takes aerial photographs over cities using drones or helicopters. Drones allow him to make more intimate portraits of a smaller neighbourhood or building, while helicopters can fly higher and carry heavier equipment.

“Pääsukese Eestimaa” is Zacek’s fourth published photo book. He said photographs of the same places in his first book, taken 15 years earlier, show how much the views have changed, including improved street lighting and better lighting on smaller side streets.

Zacek said his aim is to capture special moments rather than create heavily processed images. He usually takes around 10 to 15 photographs at a time, with one image eventually standing out from the others.

One of the photographs in the book shows a circular rainbow over Kakerdaja bog. Zacek said he had gone there with his daughter in August to create a contemporary image alongside a photograph taken by Fred Jüssi in 1977. Rain prevented them from taking the planned picture, but sunlight briefly appeared at the end of the shower and created the rainbow.

“All rainbows are actually circles. We simply cannot see that from the ground because the Earth blocks part of them, but when viewed from above, a rainbow is always a circle,” Zacek said, adding that the phenomenon lasted perhaps only a minute.

Another image shows a bog landscape photographed during the first frost of the previous year. Zacek said the view reminded him of Monument Valley in the United States, describing Estonia’s bogs and the islands within them as its own version of a valley of monuments.

According to Zacek, photographing nature means trying to capture the unpredictable. Experience provides some guidance, but nature continues to surprise him. As a photographer interested in many subjects, he said the hardest decision is choosing where to go, because the right moment can be anywhere.