Salt Flats of Aveiro – Colours and Textures from the Air


Salzfelder von Aveiro in Portugal aus der Luft mit Becken in Rot und Gelb

The salt flats of Aveiro lured me to the Portuguese coast. Laid out by human hand for centuries, from a bird’s-eye view these wide expanses open like a window onto another world, untamed and yet orderly.

Dark water above brown salt pans with white embankments near Aveiro
The salt pans of Aveiro lie like a patchwork quilt in the lagoon, the town behind.
Diagonal path through red, brown and white salt pans near Aveiro from above
The lagoon twice: islands of salt pans in the dark water.
Pink and white salt strips converging diagonally near Aveiro
Between canal, roads and roundabout, the pans glow pink, yellow and white.
White heaps of salt in red pans of the Aveiro salt flats from above
A mosaic of red and yellow pans, traffic rushing past below.

Colourful pans

Part of the salt flats consists of many colourful areas that look like a kaleidoscope from above. The colours come from different algae, minerals and the changing salt content in the evaporation pans. In the aerial photos the pans look like abstract paintings in which strong red, soft yellow and earthy brown blend into one another – a mosaic that captivates precisely because of its irregularity.

Thin white line running diagonally across red-brown salt pans near Aveiro from above
Orange, pink and olive green – algae, minerals and salinity paint every pan differently.
White salt strip separating red-brown pans near Aveiro from the air
Beside the motorway, a kaleidoscope of colourful evaporation pans.

Minimalism in white and grey

Quite different is another part of the flats: here white and grey dominate, a simple, almost unreal beauty. The clear geometry of the pans stands out, pale, almost empty areas meet dark, textured edges, and the pictures live from this tension.

Strict grid of red-brown pans and white salt edges near Aveiro
Grey and white: rows of salt heaps in the pans, as simple as a drawing.
Deep red geometric pans with a white diagonal stripe near Aveiro
White pans with round spots – almost unreal, almost empty.
Large red-brown and white blocks of salt set diagonally against each other near Aveiro
Long grey pans in a strict grid with pale paths between them.
Dark water on the left above a red grid of pans with white salt near Aveiro
Salt crust twice: one rusty pan among pale ones, and white in every shade.
Branching white salt strip in red-brown pans near Aveiro from above
From pale grey to deep black – the pans grow darker row by row.

Nature and craft

The salt flats of Aveiro are more than a place where salt is produced. Here nature and craft work together, colourful areas lie next to quiet, single-coloured ones, and from above you can see how alive this landscape is.

Wide red salt area with white lines near Aveiro from the air
Pink strips beside olive-green squares, neatly divided by narrow dykes.
Diagonal white salt strip right through red-orange pans near Aveiro
Red-brown and pale pans side by side on a slant, an abstract painting.
Dark pan at top right in a red-brown salt area near Aveiro
A grid of pink and brown, criss-crossed by pale edges.
White heaps of salt in a grid, dark water above, near Aveiro from above
Pale pans on the left, dark water on the right – a narrow dyke between them.
White salt line in the lower third of red-orange pans near Aveiro
Rust-red beside pale pink, the dykes drawing diagonal lines.
Diagonal salt strip and a dark pan at bottom right near Aveiro
The lagoon to the horizon, the pans mirroring the grey sky.
Blue-green salt pans and trees near Aveiro from the air
Blue-green pans, a few trees and a yellow field in between.
Green, white and black in organic salt pans near Aveiro from above
Green, white and black in soft, organic shapes.
White embankment between a dark and a yellow-green pan near Aveiro from above
A white dyke bends between dark water and a yellow-green pan.
White salt area between yellow ponds and dark water near Aveiro
A white salt flat between yellow ponds and dark water.
Large pale salt pan, green and orange in the corner, near Aveiro
A large pale pan with a strip of green and orange in the corner.
Cracked white salt crust with a forked green embankment near Aveiro
Cracked white salt crust with a narrow dyke running diagonally through it.
Ring pattern in white salt crust with crossing embankments near Aveiro
Rings in the white crust, crossed by thin dykes – minimalism in white and grey.
Pale salt rectangles with grey patches near Aveiro from the air
Pale salt rectangles with grey patches, calm and almost colourless.
Pale green and white rectangles in the Aveiro salt flats from above
Rows of narrow pans in pink and yellow, a block of brown and red above.
Grey salt crust with round rings and cracks near Aveiro from above
In portrait: slanting rows in pink, orange and red.
Pale pans, dark at top left and white at bottom right, near Aveiro
Order to the edge of the frame: narrow pans in pink, green and brown.
White and pale green pans with dark water at top right near Aveiro
Strong red and orange above, pastels below – untamed and yet orderly.
Pale, almost empty grid of pans with a dark corner near Aveiro from above
Slanting rows in yellow, pink and grey – nature and craft in one picture.

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