People on the brink, depopulated areas, desolate villages—it only becomes clear after a second glance that Beate Gütschow’s photos show protests, reconstruction work after catastrophic flooding, and the impact of forest fires on villages and landscapes: dystopian events that have happened in the recent past, and in Central Europe at that. It is not until weeks after the events that Gütschow arrives in the places concerned. Her long-term photographic studies give rise to counter-images to set against the usual depictions of disaster. These are more tranquil images that are emotionally accessible and make it possible for events to be analyzed. Gütschow is also part of the climate justice movement. Here, she participates in and records what she finds, documenting actions, occupations, and demonstrations: an interior perspective in which the photographs combine with diaristic notes to create a composition of text and images.

Beate Gütschow is a visual artist and professor of artistic photography at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM). Felix Hoffmann is a scholar of art and cultural studies and artistic director of FOTO ARSENAL WIEN.