Helga and Christian von Alvensleben: Haute Couture of Heaven

Hallerstrasse 6 Hamburg Rotherbaum
Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 11, 2019, 5:30 p.m.

Elemental. This word aptly describes the photographs that Christian and Helga von Alvensleben have created in recent years. Their current series , "Haute Couture of the Sky," focuses on nothing less than the clouds, the atmosphere, the air.

The visual language of the 16 large-format photographs is also fundamental. Without a horizon line, the sky stretches across the entire image. Sometimes light and airy, sometimes dark and menacing, water vapor combines to form veils of clouds, swirls, and towering clouds, impressively demonstrating both the imposing depth and the fragile delicacy of the atmosphere surrounding the globe. When the fine desert sand, carried by the Calima, the desert wind, from the Sahara to the air masses above the Canary Islands, is added, exciting trails of color suddenly become visible in the sky.

Together with the photographer, we watched, captivated, as the spectacle of the drifting cloud formations unfolded. In a dizzying shift in perspective, up and down lost their fixed meaning; we almost seemed to float. Alexander Gerst, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), had a similar experience. "Anyone who is honest up there sees how fragile Earth's ecosystem is, with its paper-thin atmosphere," he summarized his impressions, while also emphasizing humanity's responsibility for the responsible use of the world's resources.

Following the salt of the salt pans and the lava rock of the volcanic island of Lanzarote, the masses of water of the giant waves and the splashing spray on the Portuguese Atlantic coast, following the portraits of ancient olive trees and the images of people in the masks of traditional rituals on the Peloponnese, the atmosphere in the series Haute Courture des Himmels is like a natural continuation in the photographic exploration of the archaic forces of nature.