Am Weg

The photo project Am Weg is the final part of Hans-Christian Schink's trilogy of long-term photographic investigations into the surroundings of his home in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (after Hinterland, 2019 and Unter Wasser, 2022). A 3 km long dirt road leads from the photographer's house through an agricultural landscape typical of this region. Hans-Christian Schink walked this path with stoic regularity, on foot and with his camera. Over a period of four years, he created an artistic and documentary inventory of the various aspects of what he saw. The results are atmospherically dense landscape images in black and white, intoxicatingly colorful portraits of flowers and graphically fascinating photographs of grasses and leaves. These are complemented by bird drawings by his brother Martin Schink. Comprehensive lists by the artist document the extensive wealth of flora and fauna observed along the way. The charm of this project lies in the harmonious interplay of all the elements of this collection. It unfolds its effect from the harmony of all the elements of this collection of material, thus making viewers and readers aware of the multi-layered interweaving of nature and culture, even in our immediate surroundings. A literary text by the poet and prose writer Uwe Kolbe, which traces a concrete and fictitious path through the arising associations, adds a unique quality to the publication.