Goethe Scenes

A Story with an End

The titles could hardly be simpler: Oquaatsut, 07/2003 69°20’48’’ N, 51°00’04’’ W, for example, or Iceberg Rodebay, 07/2003 69°22’16’’ N, 50°54’08’’ W. Yet, they say a great deal about the photographs. Travemünde native Olaf Otto Becker gives his pictures a precise location, with the date and coordinates of the place they were taken in order to document for posterity how the landscape of Greenland is constantly changing. The devastating consequences of climate change can already be measured: approximately 225 cubic kilometres of ice per year are melting along the coast of Greenland and are responsible for more than seven percent of the annual rise in the sea level. Still, the photographer only wags a very subtle warning finger. He all the more captures the beauty of untouched landscapes in the nocturnal light. His photographs are alive with almost artificial-looking colours and reflect the grand mood of places empty of humans. Becker was awarded the 2007 German Photography Book Award for „Broken Line“. Now, the exhibition will be shown as the preliminary programme of the Biennale Internationale de l'Image de Nancy.