Bridges to Nowhere

The landscapes of Hans Christian Schink are located in L.A., South America, Asia or in former East Germany, where he was born in 1961. Schink has a good eye for decoding these varied landscapes as wastelands, marked by out-of-place architecture. His interest lies not in the landscape or the thoughtless buildings which man put in, it´s the new landscape that comes to existence where they meet.



In this respect his photos taken in Peru, Vietnam and L.A. become interesting in their interchangable, trivial presentation which could be anywhere on the planet.



I really like his series "Verkehrsprojekte Deutsche Einheit" (Traffic projects of the German Unifiction). A stylish collection of early-morning shots of half-finished bridges and roads which lead to nowhere.
This is a far cry from the "blooming landscapes" which politicians enthusiastically promised shortly after the unification.



Billions of Marks and later Euros have been literally sunk into the sand. The irony of history: while eastern germany now has the most advanced roads and infra-structure there is nobody left to travel on them. Jobs are rare and most people have long left to the western part of the country were the streets are crumbling.



Looking at these photos long enough you´ll get the exact sonic simulation of being there. A sort of wet, hollow, opressing silence. Then and now interrupted by the sound of a speeding car on the overhead concrete pass.



The stark contrast to images he collected in Southern California, is that there is no contrast at all.



See more of Hans Christian Schink at Galerie Rothamel