Between dam and starry sky

Daniele Giardina is a craftsman and dam keeper at Axpo's Löntsch power station (GL). At Lake Klöntal, he has one of the most beautiful workplaces in Switzerland. Here he discovered his second passion: photography. His landscape and night-time photographs are well known throughout the canton of Glarus.

Sometimes Daniele Giardina is out and about at Lake Klöntal hours before he starts work. In the middle of the night, when the stars are twinkling and the snow-capped mountains are reflected in the lake, he takes some very special photographs. ‘It's worth getting up very early for this,’ says Giardina. He works where others spend their free time and finds his motifs in the Klöntal valley – but not only there.

The 48-year-old craftsman and dam keeper has been employed at Axpo's Löntsch power station for 17 years. And it is here, between the dam, the power station, the mountain landscape and the starry night sky, that he has found his second passion: photography.

Self-study to become a photographer

The path to this point was not planned. Around twelve years ago, Giardina simply wanted to buy a camera. His first attempts disappointed him – the pictures were poor. ‘I asked myself, is it me or the camera?’ Instead of giving up, he began to study photography more intensively. He took more and more photos, taught himself the necessary skills, and experimented with technology, lighting, and perspectives. He was particularly fascinated by night photography. Stars, long exposures, tranquillity – things that require patience and reward it.

When did he realise that his pictures were good? Not because of prizes or sales figures, says Giardina, but because of the reactions of others. He shared his first photos on Facebook, initially only privately. The positive feedback piled up and demand grew. To separate his professional and private life, he launched his own website (www.giardina-photography.ch) around eleven years ago. Today, he works as a professional photographer, but only part-time alongside his full-time job at the power station.

In the beginning there was a calendar

The fact that his passion for photography turned into a business idea has a lot to do with Daniele Giardina's girlfriend. Her grandmother lived in Colombia and received a calendar featuring Glarus landscapes as a gift every year. ‘I offered to put together a calendar for her myself.’ No sooner said than done. First in a small circle, then for the public. The tenth calendar will be published in 2026 – exclusively featuring Glarus landscapes. This year's print run is around 300 copies, sold to business customers and private individuals. His customers use the images for office design, websites, Christmas cards or presentations. For a while, he also used his photos to create his own series in south-eastern Switzerland. His photos were even used for a general meeting of the Glarner Kantonalbank.

What fascinates him about the Glarus region is its often overlooked beauty. ‘You think you know everything about everyday life,’ he says, ‘but when you take a closer look, you discover incredible places.’ Remote areas, tranquillity, little light pollution – ideal conditions for his star photography. He is particularly fond of the Klöntal valley: quiet and almost deserted in winter, with intense colours in autumn and full of contrasts in spring. Other favourite places include the Kärpfgebiet between Sernftal and Grosstal, a nature reserve of exceptional unspoilt beauty.

Many of his pictures are also taken while hiking, always in his spare time. But he cannot completely separate the dam keeper from the photographer. His proximity to the landscape and the special perspectives afforded by his profession also inspire him photographically. Conversely, photography sharpens his eye for details in his everyday work.

Between the dam and the starry sky, Daniele Giardina has found his own rhythm. One that shows that work and passion do not have to be mutually exclusive – especially when the workplace itself becomes a source of inspiration.