MAGIC PLACES
Photography by Florian Westermann
September 10th - November 21st, 2014
For Florian Westermann, photography is an ongoing process of self-discovery, learning, and following a deep desire to go out and explore the world. Photography is much more than producing a lasting memory for him. It gives him the opportunity to give artistic expression to the portrayal of nature and habitat characterized by his view. The landscape is the perfect source of inspiration, always renewing and inexhaustible, an epic framework that provides unprecedentedly new opportunities every day.
It is a constant challenge and sometimes requires weeks or even years to be in the right place at the right time to capture, retain, and preserve the scenery in its strongest expression for future generations. Besides the actual photography, Florian Westermann enjoys to stay in nature and in an environment in which he finds his impressive motives. Here, the handling of the camera has taught him that there is much more to discover than it first seems.
His passion is to discover and capture the breathtaking spectacle of landscape and light, wherever on earth he may find it. Being in the middle of nature, which has chan- ged little in thousands of years and where one wishes that time would stop while looking at the scenery in awe, is for him an unbelievable wealth that he wants to share. It is to these magical places that Florian Westermann wants to lead the viewer emotionally and communicate their beauty, grandeur and drama. He wants to show that the unbelievable is reality and is really there. It deserves every effort for its preservation, because the treasures of nature belong to the most precious we possess.
Florian Westermann (b. 1980) grew up in West Berlin and witnessed firsthand the fall of the wall. Reunification and the city as a rapidly changing melting pot influenced his childhood and youth. Already in this context, he develo- ped a very strong interest in photography. The city offe- red him an inexhaustible wealth of inspiration and motives. However, he soon discovered his special predi- lection for nature photos. After leaving school, he started his career as a business journalist in 1999. On numerous journeys, he also had the opportunity to devote himself to landscape photography and to discover new, fascinating places over and over again.
Over many years, he managed to teach himself the knowledge that he needed as a photographer. For that, he used all available ways and means in theory and practice. Passion was just as key to his success as his willingness to spare neither expense nor effort in search of the best moments of nature. He realized almost nothing brings people together in the way photography does. For Florian Westermann, it is a universal form of expression that appeals to people very directly in a rational and an emotional way.
Since 2014, Florian Westermann lives and works in Munich. With the exhibition "Magical Places" at 'art place berlin', he exhibits works of recent years to a wider audi- ence in Berlin for the first time. Thirty-nine high-quality large-formats show impressive motifs from the cities of New York and San Francisco, the vastness of the Ameri- can Southwest, the paradise islands of the Seychelles, and motifs from Europe such as the German and Swiss Alps or the Mediterranean island of Sicily. What remains invisible is the expense and effort, because landscape photography requires not only experience, intuition, the right equipment, and a good eye. It is usually hard work, often associated with significant risks, and requires a lot of time and dedication.
"Photography is a fire that burns inside my heart and will not let me go. I would like to introduce you to the world as I see it. With my pictures, I want to evoke emotion. In pristine nature, I find something that is larger and more important than ourselves - and I hope you find it as well." - Florian Westermann
