Geologist and aerial photographer Bernhard Edmaier from Ampfing, Germany, is presenting his breathtaking collection of aerial photographs at the Tagwerk Gallery in Dorfen. The exhibition, titled "Earth's Studio," features 30 stunning aerial images captured over three decades of flying above some of the world's most remote and pristine locations. Edmaier's internationally acclaimed work has earned prestigious awards, including the Hasselblad Master Award.
For more than 30 years, long before drones became commonplace, Edmaier has been photographing the world from above by chartering helicopters and traveling to the most isolated places on Earth. His extraordinary portfolio includes images of sea ice in Greenland, the North Sea mudflats, rocky formations in Austria's Zillertal valley, and lagoons in the Indian Ocean. The 66-year-old photographer describes his aerial perspective as offering "a spectacular view of the cosmos - a real image of nature."
The current exhibition at the Bread & Art Gallery on the second floor of the Tagwerk organic store showcases an impressive spectrum of natural colors. Visitors can marvel at countless shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown from rock formations and desert sands, the gray and white hues of glaciers, various green tones of vegetation, and naturally the blues of water and ice. The connection to the gallery was made through Arthur Dittlmann from Dorfen, a retired radio editor from Bavarian Broadcasting who attended high school with Edmaier.
Edmaier was immediately captivated by the gallery's intimate setting in the small, winding rooms of the organic shop, where the charm lies in its simplicity. The photographer, who has lived in the neighboring district of Mühldorf since age six, recalls his childhood: "I started school in Wambach, then my parents moved to Ampfing." Rather than organizing the photographs geographically, Edmaier has arranged them by color themes. "My goal is to visualize the diverse colors, forms, and structures that the Earth produces entirely without human intervention," he emphasized during last Sunday's opening reception.
The aerial photographs have garnered international attention and earned renowned prizes like the Hasselblad Master Award. While Edmaier typically exhibits in major galleries, he doesn't consider himself primarily an artist. As a geologist by profession, he intensively studies the planet and the forces of untouched nature, including wind, sun, volcanism, and plate tectonics. His life partner, science writer Angelika Jung-Hüttl, who is also a geologist, explains: "Our focus is on the Earth's surface, which forms itself without human intervention - a process that has lasted thousands, sometimes even millions of years."
The emphasis remains on pristine nature without infrastructure, in places where humans play no role. Christian Empl, himself a photographer and operator of the Tagwerk store on Haager Street, praises the overwhelming impact of the images: "Anyone who looks at these pictures is carried away by powerful impressions. It's always the perfect moment - the light fits, the composition fits." According to Edmaier, creating such photographs requires extensive research, intensive preparation, and even more patience.
During the gallery opening, visitors engaged Edmaier with technical questions about his craft. When Nina Gribl-Karst from Lengdorf asked about shooting altitude, Edmaier responded that he photographs from varying heights - "sometimes from 100 meters, other times from 5,000 meters." Her husband, Albrecht Gribl, inquired about how frequently he presses the shutter. Edmaier's answer revealed his disciplined approach: "Four or five times." This conservation stems from his film camera days, and he maintains this practice in the digital age, stating, "I have no desire to evaluate three terabytes at home."
Edmaier's passion for aerial photography was ignited during his diploma thesis on debris flow activity in the Eastern Alps. To document the cause of the problem - water masses flowing from ski slopes - he needed to photograph from the air. "That's when it grabbed me," he recalls. The images undergo no retouching or digital manipulation: "We approach our subjects with our professional expertise," maintaining the authenticity of Earth's natural artistry. Together with Jung-Hüttl, he has published a new book, available for purchase at the gallery's checkout area.
