In Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, waterfalls don’t simply decorate the landscape—they fall straight out of enormous cliffs above homes, gardens, roads, and, in this case, an ordinary wooden bench. Staubbach Falls drops nearly 1,000 feet from the limestone wall above the valley, its water breaking into mist as it descends. The scale is almost absurd: something as familiar as a neighborhood bench sitting beneath one of Switzerland’s most recognizable natural landmarks.
That’s what I love about these photographs. They aren’t presenting Staubbach Falls from some carefully constructed scenic overlook. The bench is just there, part of everyday life, while this extraordinary waterfall pours from the cliff behind it. The first photograph compresses the scene and makes the falls feel enormous; the wider second frame reveals more of the valley and shows just how casually this incredible landscape surrounds the people who live here.
There may be no better illustration of what makes Lauterbrunnen so surreal: somewhere else, this would be the view you traveled all day to see. Here, it’s the view from the neighborhood bench.
Bench Photography | Bench Photos | ©John J. Vicino