Burger photo exhibition “Over the year – in black and white and in color”

An exhibition of three Lusatian photographers was opened in the Burg office building on March 16. Heiner Stephan, Andreas Batke and Gerd Rattei presented their works from recent years. It is not only a collection of motifs, but also shows the very different approaches to depicting Sorbian/Wendish customs. The senior citizen, Gerd Rattei from Cottbus, was unable to attend the opening of the exhibition, which the 89-year-old apologized for. His work speaks for itself: his photos show an almost affectionate view of the people of the Spreewald. His camera is the silent observer, his actors do not seem to notice that they are being photographed.

Heiner Stephan, born in 1967, is a very busy Cottbus photographer. The civil engineer collects his motifs at the countless traditional events in Lower Lusatia. He is characterized by his excellent attention to detail. He looks at the dancers’ costume details without being disrespectful. His motifs appear very natural, taken from life. His main motif stands out pleasantly from the surroundings, bringing calm to the movement.

Andreas Batke, a nurse who was born in Storkow in 1975 and lives there, loves his photographic hobby more than anything. He has dedicated himself to black and white photography, depicting people from Lower Lusatia and is convinced that this old and rediscovered form of photography is more authentic – colors are sometimes distracting, shades of gray can show more. Andreas Batke calls this form of photography “social photography”.

Although the exhibition features thematically identical motifs, they are reflected individually by the three photographers. It had previously been shown with great success in the Cottbus bookstore Hugendubel, initiated by the Cottbus city center management at the time. The exhibition can be seen during the usual opening hours on the premises of Burger Amtsverwaltung.

Peter Becker, 17.03.26