Bernd Wurthmann | Hallig Gröde | 2007

With a size of just 2.5 square kilometers, the Hallig Gröde is small, but the abundance of motifs on the island seems endless. Sea and sky present themselves in a synergy of sun and clouds, Frisian houses perch on a terp, and bird swarms populate the salt marshes. Ever since Bremen photographer Bernd Wurthmann discovered the Hallig with its 17 inhabitants near the island of Föhr, he has always been drawn back there.

“I am fascinated by the silence of this place, which is subject to constant flooding and consequently, to permanent change,” explains Wurthmann. His pictures show a landscape that is exposed to the forces of nature and yet bears traces of civilizational design. Man is present in nature without being depicted explicitly. Thus, Wurthmann’s photographs represent a bridge to the works of Fritz and Hermine Overbeck.