History of origin:
On a frosty January day, I was standing in the middle of the dormant vineyards of Rheinhessen. The air was crystalline, the ground frozen hard. What fascinated me at that moment was not the clarity of the day, but just the opposite - how the cold seemed to blur all contours, how the individual elements of the landscape gave up their identity and merged into a common whole. The rows of vines and their sticks seemed frozen in time, and yet in my perception the boundaries of the individual dissolved, blurring into a single frozen, yet flowing landscape. This wintry dissolution of boundaries, this paradox of rigidity and movement inspired me to create “Winter Haunting”.

Description:
With “Winter Haunting” I tried to capture that special state of perception in which the world dissolves its usual structures. Using the technique of Intentional Camera Movement, I made a horizontal movement during the shoot that interacts with the natural lines of the rows of vines. This deliberate movement intensifies the effect of blurring and transforms the clear order of the vineyards into a dreamlike, almost ghostly landscape.

The monochrome realization emphasizes the graphic character of the composition and reduces the scene to its elementary essence: lines, surfaces, light and shadow. The black and white aesthetic corresponds to the wintry reduction of the color palette and reinforces the meditative atmosphere of the picture. While the dark lines of the vines appear like fine brushstrokes on a white canvas, the movement transforms the snow into a misty veil that covers and simultaneously exposes the landscape.

Special features:
The special quality of this work lies in its ambivalent dimensionality. The motion blur creates an exciting interplay between surface and depth - on the one hand, the horizontal movement reduces the landscape to a two-dimensional, almost abstract pattern, while on the other, the gentle undulation of the hills remains recognizable and creates an impression of spatiality.

The atmospheric density of the image is also remarkable. Although it was taken on a clear day, it conveys an impression of fog and mystery - a phenomenon created solely by the movement during the shot. This transformation of reality is a central element of my artistic work and finds a particularly poetic expression in “Winter Haunting”.

Connection to the exhibition:
“Winter Haunting” embodies a central aspect of the exhibition concept ‘Metamorphoses of Silence’. It shows how the seasonal stillness of the vineyards is not just a state of tranquillity, but an active process of transformation. The work visualizes those intermediate spaces of perception in which the boundaries between things dissolve and new relationships emerge. By abstracting the familiar, it invites the viewer to question their own perception and discover the poetry in the seemingly ordinary.

Reference to Rheinhessen:
The rhythmic structure of the vineyards is characteristic of the cultural landscape of Rheinhessen. Unlike in steeper wine-growing regions such as the Moselle or the Rheingau, the vineyards of Rheinhessen are often extensive and gently rolling - they follow the natural topography of the naturally rolling hills. This specific landscape form is subtly captured in “Winter Haunting” and interpreted in its wintery character.

The extensive, often gently undulating vineyards are a result of the region's geological history and centuries of cultivation. They shape the visual memory of Rheinhessen as well as the perception of its wines - because the rolling hills and open landscape are also reflected in the character of many Rheinhessen wines: accessible, gentle and yet full of nuances and depth. “Winter Haunting” captures this landscape in its slumber - a moment of calm and reflection in a yearly cycle that is otherwise characterized by intense activity.