On the way toward Lake Oeschinensee above Kandersteg, the destination is still somewhere ahead, but the scenery has already become extraordinary. A weathered wooden bench faces an open alpine meadow beneath a massive wall of snow-covered rock, with the forest closing around the clearing on either side. It feels less like a designated viewpoint and more like a place someone simply realized deserved a bench.
What I especially like about these two photographs is that the bench isn’t really the destination—it represents the journey toward it. There is something inviting about seeing it from behind, as though the photograph puts the viewer in the position of deciding whether to keep walking or sit for a while. The second image, with the bench more centered beneath the enormous mountain face, makes that relationship particularly strong: one small, human place to rest against something almost impossibly large.
And that’s why I’d avoid using our best “perfect seat / perfect view” language here. Oeschinensee itself is still coming—and apparently somebody had the good sense to put another bench there.
Bench Photography | Bench Photos | ©John J. Vicino