Elger Esser

On February 16, 2013 Sonnabend Gallery will open an exhibition of new photographs by Elger Esser.

In 2011, Elger Esser followed the path of the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and, inspired by old postcards, photographed the landscapes along the river using the light of dawn or twilight, creating images that evoke an atmosphere of timelessness.

A longtime student of landscape photography, Esser’s work builds on the realist images of great 19th century landscape photographers such as Henri le Secq and Gustave le Gray.

He writes: “I work quite deliberately with blurred images using long exposure times. The mobile elements in the picture – the water, the trees, the clouds – do things with the film which I can only influence in part. For me, this use of technology is only a background aspect. I concentrate more strongly on the contents of the images. What does it mean to stand at the water’s edge? What happens if the elements in the picture – trees, sky or water – interact with symmetries and surfaces, with harmony and disharmony?”

Please contact the gallery for further information.