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.
