'Werkschau' propose the viewer from the primeval forests of Malaysia and Indonesia into the fire-cleared landscape and finally, in his urban landscapes.
Greenland’s light and it’s coastline, the primeval forests of Malaysia and Indonesia or the architecture of Singapore - Olaf Otto Becker’s photographic expeditions are a search for traces in compelling landscapes. The pictures in „Broken Line“ (2007) show a seemingly unaffected landscape, the traces of human intervention barely visible on closer inspection. In the second series, „
Above Zero“ (2009), the images already show the consequences of industrial growth in western societies quite plainly - new streams and rivers spring from Greenland’s sooted snowscape and dig deep trenches into the ice. In his recent work, „Reading the Landscape“ (2014), Olaf Otto Becker goes one step further, he takes the viewer from the unaffected primeval forests of Malaysia and Indonesia into the fire-cleared landscape and finally, in his urban landscapes, shows how humans are replicating what was just destroyed in order to occupy a copy of their original habitat.
Olaf Otto Becker, born 1958 in Lübeck-Travemünde, lives and works in Munich. His work is found in important collections both private and public. The monographs titled „Broken Line“ (2007), „Above Zero“ (2009) and „Reading the Landscape“ (2014) where published by Hatje Cantz.
Image: Olaf Otto Becker aus: Reading the Landscape – Primary forest 02, lake, Malaysia 10/2012
Opening: Friday, March 27, 6pm
Robert Morat Galerie
Kleine Reichenstr. 1, 20457 Hamburg
Tue-Fri 12-6pm, Sat 12-4pm