Never without… my camera!
Do you ever meet Patrick Dache with a camera around his neck? This is no coincidence. Read here why his camera is so dear to him.
Hello Patrick, why did you choose this object?
In 2009, together with the Asset Financial Management (AFM) team, we started taking pictures of all high-voltage substations in Belgium. Until then, there was no footage of it. It took us four to five years to photograph everything, because we did it on top of our ‘normal’ work. Thanks to those photos, we were able to detect inaccuracies in our financial inventory of the assets and update the information.
When that work was completed, we decided with the team to continue taking photos of large infrastructure projects. For example, we now have ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos that show the evolution of projects and high-voltage substations. We also mapped out some infrastructure works on lines and cables. In the meantime, we have a database with more than 200,000 photos, good for 1.3 terabytes. We have a picture file for every photo shoot and anyone can consult them, on simple request.
Why do you like these photo shoots so much?
The photo shoots are only a small part of the job, but we really enjoy it. For the AFM team, site visits and photo shoots contribute to the essence of the job: technical-financial management, commissioning, decommissioning, management of OPEX-CAPEX regulations, financial inspection of infrastructure projects, etc. By visiting the posts and seeing the installations with your own eyes, the figures and the content of our technical-financial files become much less abstract. In addition, we get to know the high-voltage grid throughout Belgium well and we meet colleagues who we would otherwise never meet.
We are not professional photographers. We do not take photos with a special framing or atmospheric lighting. They are business photos that help us in the technical-financial management of projects. But also for people who are new to the company, the photos help – according to us – to have a good picture of a substation. Project leaders, for example, use it to develop projects and present them to management. Whatever the reason to consult our photo library, we are always happy when our colleagues can benefit from it!