GEHRKE, Andreas - Brandenburg

Background information

"In principle, the area surrounding Berlin is quite beautiful. The environs of few other German cities possess such a rich character. It emanates an austere allure which, almost Japanese in its subtlety, often leaves a profound impression. But time and again it also appears unfamiliar, and looms rather than it pleases." (© Karl Scheffler, Berlin—The Fate of a City, 1910)
"In his self published photo volume, 'Brandenburg', Andreas GEHRKE composes a considered portrait of the sparsely populated state that encircles Berlin. A region that has been described as bleak, austere and unforgiving, Andreas GEHRKE’s 'Brandenburg' is marked by moments of incongruity. Drawn to the undefined, the seemingly desolate, he depicts places characterized by transition, absence and indeterminacy. Andreas GEHRKE worked for over six years on this project. Consistently renouncing notions of pure documentary photography, his images never make outward reference to historical shifts and processes. Instead they form a series of subtle allusions to the structural and social changes that have befallen Brandenburg in recent decades. 

Content

Using formal photographic means he imparts each image with a sense of dignity and aesthetic rigor, inviting the viewer to linger over his detailed compositions. With this publication, Andreas GEHRKE has produced a document that transcends the realm of temporality. 'Brandenburg' isn’t a depiction of a 'home’: it examines the aesthetic identity of the region from a detached, analytical perspective.
This photographic study by Andreas GEHRKE is complemented by an essay on landscape by the Swiss sociologist and founder of promenadology, Lucius Burckhardt." (publisher's note, © Drittel books)

About Berlin photographer Andreas GEHRKE

Photo books by Andreas GEHRKE