Bright Landscapes
Landscape Photographs by Karlheinz Rothenberger
The rapid acceleration of our life rhythm is met by the always-and-everywhere photography, which disregards all the rules of classical photography regarding composition, focus distribution, or lighting.
It is a kind of fast-food photography: snapped, seen, deleted.
Karlheinz Rothenberger, however, has no interest in any of that—he continues to rely solely on his Leica and black-and-white 35mm film, the classic Leica format. What defines his photography is his photographic eye and his inner attitude toward the art of photography. He is not interested in technical possibilities, artificial arrangements, or post-production manipulation. It is his way of seeing and discovering images that he captures with his camera and shares with us through his photographs. Karlheinz Rothenberger reaches, delights, and inspires all those who have long grown weary of the noisy, colorful flood of images. He takes us into unusual environments we might never have entered on our own.
One focus is Ronneburg.
His images depict the transformation of the moonlike landscape in the former Wismut mining area - from contaminated mining terrain to a human-friendly post-mining landscape. At the same time, the photographs convey the tremendous energy of the Wismut GmbH environmental engineers, who, with enormous technical effort, exemplary resolve the harmful legacies of their predecessors.
Another focus is Geisenhausen near Landshut.
The series Lattice Masts was created in the context of environmentally friendly corrosion protection measures on high-voltage masts. The lattice structures were transformed into gigantic art objects. Like monoliths, they stand in the landscape as if installed specifically for Rothenberger’s artistic photography.
What Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Rothenberger teaches us - just as he teaches his medical students - he has practiced since 1983 as Chief Physician of the Urology Clinic at Klinikum Landshut: careful observation and empathy, which are fundamental requirements for a successful photographer as well as a good doctor.