«WINDS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ... THE AIR YOU BREAThE»
WEB SoLO SHOW
WALTER WICKisER GALLERY, NEW YORK
january 4 – march 8, 2024
«Winds of Climate Change ... The Air You Breathe»
During the last five years, I have been taking photographs of moments in my life when I felt and experienced the vulnerability of nature and our planet. A sadness and hopelessness took hold of my heart. In the south of France where I work in my studio, I saw beautiful oak trees dying because for months there was no rain. The source of my own water dried up. I had to watch the plants in my garden die, not only from lack of water but also because of the hot winds that burned them, drying out the soil, igniting bushfires. The series "Mistral" captures this strong wind visually.
Watching and experiencing other signs of climate change, like the disappearance of glaciers in the Swiss Alps and in Canada, the series "Taku Icefield" serves as a visual metaphor for this process. Hurricanes, typhoons, and flooding are captured in the series "Majuro," symbolizing the rise of sea levels. I became aware that being sad and hopeless is no solution. What is needed is action. Without delay.
The series "Atlantis" shows an aquarium as a visual metaphor for what is left when the water temperature of the oceans keeps rising and the marine animals and plants do not have enough oxygen to continue breathing. The Greek philosopher Plato describes the city of Atlantis as a prosperous, expansive island state that sank in a natural disaster and was destroyed. In comparison with his ideal state "Athene," he warns the reader of the hubris of mankind. The third image of the series shows us a hopeful solution, however. Like Plato demonstrates in his "Kritias," dialogue is urgently needed between all parties involved in shaping the climate on our planet. Only if we find personal, global, and peaceful solutions can we bring change to our world and our planet.
"Helike" is a series of aerial photographs taken from high altitude, where the infrastructure of a city below—its houses, roads, and cars—look very tiny and fragile. The image shows a web-like pattern of lights that a strong wind could easily tear apart. Located on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus in the Gulf of Corinth, Helike was a very wealthy city until it was destroyed by a tsunami in 373 BC. Being aware of such fragility and threats can connect us to one another. If we take a meta-position, like looking from an airplane down onto the earth, we can discover our interrelatedness and the beauty that lies in it.
The series "Tropomi" refers to the ESA satellite monitoring trace gases and aerosols relevant to our air quality and climate. Air quality is extremely important for our health and the quality of life on earth. Poor air quality is not only a factor in climate change but also a cause of lung diseases and premature death. Clean air, like clean water, should be a human right. The air you breathe is precious.
The photographs in "Paradise" illustrate the beauty of trees. In one year, a single tree absorbs more than 48 pounds of harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases clean oxygen in exchange. Planting trees and protecting trees, woods, and rainforests is like harvesting clean air—the air you breathe.
All these photographs are immediate expressions moments when, within me, intense emotions collided with visual signals from the external world. The goal of these images is not to document a situation that exists outside of us, but to create a visual metaphor of the transience of the moment. Movement; the random, spontaneous flickering of light; pixels that create small points of color; brushstrokes, as in impressionist paintings—these are the elements of my aesthetic research. The idea is to experiment with the camera to create photographs that witness light in its manifold expressions, transcending the mere object being depicted. The idea is to challenge reality as a material manifestation and thus also the very definition of photography. Pixels, like quantum particles, have an inherent tendency to create new patterns and have the potential to create new images—and new worlds.
None of these photographs have been altered in terms of color. All works are available on paper or as ChromaLuxe prints on aluminum.