MALLORCA - the nature of things:

“Minimalist visual representation facilitates a more highly nuanced perception of form and aesthetics” is the credo by which the photographer, Jörg Bräuer, lives.

The beauties of Mallorca, the endless variety of the island’s forms, the architectural treasures: All of these things combine to strike visitors of the insula maior with awe. This awe of beauty (to be more precise: of harmony) can be found in Jörg Bräuer´s photos.

Professor and writer Mihai Nadin has provided text to accompany the photos and to sensitively introduce us to the photographer’s perspective: “His photos demonstrate a sense of aesthetics and permanency”, asserts the introductory preface of the interdisciplinary cultural scientist. “A road that slowly winds into the mists, a hazy sky, seemingly eerie rooftops, breakwaters, lighthouses, bridges, seascapes, mountains, limestone everywhere. The visual language of this landscape is made up of only a few ‘letters’, but the visual ‘sentences’ written by nature are extremely expressive. Even places that we know to be constantly populated – whether to pray, to meditate or to relax – are devoid of humankind in the photos of this book.” He gives new perspectives of an island, which is mostly perceived as a venue for mass tourism. The photos demonstrate the shame of this narrow perception, as they radiate a tranquillity and intensity that one wouldn’t usually associate with the sun-drenched holiday island of many a cliché. The photos also restore the island’s dignity, which the first travellers were once privileged to discover.

The photos were mostly taken either shortly before sunrise or just after sunset with long exposure times and the aid of an Hasselblad. By focussing his concentration on “The Nature of Things”, he allows the observer the freedom of reflection, the freedom to make associations concerning individual sounds, smells, colours and feelings.

Ploi Malakul, rupa publishing