Andreas Gursky is exhibiting a new photo series “Ocean” in Berlin these days, pursueing his play on photography’s claim for the depiction of reality. Gursky used high-definition satellite photographs which he augmented from various picture sources on the Internet. The satellite photos are restricted however to exposures of sharply contoured land masses. Consequently the transitional zones between land and water – as well as the oceans themselves – had to be generated completely by artificial means. At second glance one realises however that Gursky’s interest in the image is not cartographic in nature. The distances between the continents do not follow any systematic programme, such as “Google Earth” offers, but are slightly shortened or elongated according to compositional principles.

Andreas Gursky is exhibiting a new photo series “Ocean” in Berlin these days, pursueing his play on photography’s claim for the depiction of reality.

Gursky used high-definition satellite photographs which he augmented from various picture sources on the Internet. The satellite photos are restricted however to exposures of sharply contoured land masses. Consequently the transitional zones between land and water – as well as the oceans themselves – had to be generated completely by artificial means.

At second glance one realises however that Gursky’s interest in the image is not cartographic in nature. The distances between the continents do not follow any systematic programme, such as “Google Earth” offers, but are slightly shortened or elongated according to compositional principles.

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