Turning point
The Schlei, this 40 kilometer long arm of the Baltic Sea, is a unique, particularly valuable ecosystem. At the very western end of the Schlei lies Holm, the traditional district of Schleswig.
The last fishermen from Holm
The Holm was already a fishing quarter in the Middle Ages. Around 1900, a good 120 fishermen still lived here, but in 2021 there are only five full-time workers. A turning point is imminent: in a few years there may no longer be any active professional fishermen in Schleswig and the Schlei. Against this background, Holger Rüdel has created a photo report on the last Holmer fishermen that is unique in this scope.
The result of two years of work
In his two years of work on the image documentation, Holger Rüdel got closer to the Holmer fishermen than any other photographer before him - on water, on land and from the air. Over the course of the report, well over 10.000 photos were taken - and 89 of the best are collected in this exhibition.
Using the stylistic devices of classic reportage photography, Holger Rüdel reports on all current aspects of fishing in the Schlei in his black and white images. He accompanies the fishermen on their fishing trips for herring in the spring and for eels, the “gold of the tench,” in the late spring and summer, and focuses on the extreme challenges of fishing in the cold season. The effects of over-fertilization, climate change, invasive species and cormorant masses are also shown. Further sections introduce personalities such as Jörn Ross, the first elder of the Holm fishing guild, and the “historical fisherman” Jörg Nadler.
“The photo project 'Turning of Times' - a cultural-historical treasure”
The exhibition, a project of Photo Clubs Schleswig e. v. in cooperation with the Sparkasse Foundation Schleswig-Holstein, was under the patronage of Jan Philipp Albrecht, Minister for Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalization of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
When I looked at Holger Rüdel's unique photographs for the first time, I immediately felt it again: this magic. That magic of the sea, fishing and ships that had already gripped me as a child. It may be due to the photographer's documentary reading that lets me peek directly over the shoulder of a fisherman. I'm not just close. I'm suddenly in the middle of the universe of 'Moby Dick'.
Jan Philipp Albrecht, Minister for the Environment and Fisheries of Schleswig-Holstein
Something magical, even historical, emanates from the black and white photographs. They take you into a world full of traditions and customs. The photo project 'Zeitenwende' is a cultural and historical treasure - and an extremely aesthetic one at that. Come on board and let yourself be fascinated by the faces and stories of the Schleiffischerei.
Exhibition locations for the black and white photographs:
- Sparkasse Foundation Schleswig-Holstein, April 8th to June 18th, 2021
- Schleswig City Museum, July 1st to October 17th, 2021
- Open-Air Museum of Folklore Schwerin-Mueß, July 3, 2022 to July 2, 2023 (joint exhibition with Volker Janke)
- State Office for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas (LLUR) in Flintbek near Kiel, July 21 to August 19, 2022
Further information is available here leaflet available for exhibition.
“Turning of Times” as an exhibition with color photographs
In order to adequately present the entire wealth of image material created over two years, two exhibitions were designed, separated according to image variants, so that in addition to the black and white core version, a selection of 55 photographs could be seen as a colored portfolio.
The show was designed as a traveling exhibition by the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein and was presented for the first time in the regional headquarters of the Nord-Ostsee Sparkasse in Schleswig, Stadtweg 18 (July 1 to December 17, 2021). Because of their impressive image size of 90 x 60 cm, the portraits of the last five active fishermen from Holm were the focus of the exhibition.
From April 1st to October 30th, 2022, the colored version of “Zeitenwende” was in the Fishing/Unewatt Landscape Museum to see. The Fishing Landscape Museum in Unewatt is a folklore museum sponsored by the Cultural Foundation of the Schleswig-Flensburg District. The museum consists of five “museum islands” that can be visited on a circular route through Unewatt.
These portraits in XXL format – photographed with a Fujifilm GFX 100S – were produced exclusively for the color exhibition on ChromaLuxe. The production was made possible by your kind support:
- ChromaLuxe/Universal Woods EMEA (Belgium)
- Bildwerk GmbH (Halle/Westphalia)
- FineArtPrinter, The high-end photo magazine (Aying)
ChromaLuxe is a sublimation print on solid aluminum. Using a special inkjet transfer process, the color pigments are firmly embedded in the coating and are not just on the surface. The result is extremely light-resistant, scratch- and waterproof prints with outstanding color brilliance, high contrast and a three-dimensional appearance.
The colored portfolio is fully documented here: Exhibition “Turning of Times” – colored version
The motives are beyond that Holger Rüdel's online shop Available in many variations as prints in fine art quality. The images from the black and white exhibition and the illustrations from the book “Zeitenwende” can also be ordered here.
The book for the exhibition “Turning of Times”
The large-format book for the exhibition was published by Wachholtz-Verlag in two editions that are now out of print (22,5 x 32,5 cm, hardcover, 140 pages with 123 illustrations, €28. ISBN 978-3-529-05063-3). The black and white photographs by Holger Rüdel are supplemented in the volume by text contributions by Svend Duggen and Anke Carstens-Richter. Forewords: Environment and Fisheries Minister Jan Philipp Albrecht and Oliver Stolz, President of the Savings Banks and Giro Association for Schleswig-Holstein and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein.
The “Zeitenwende” project was funded by the European Union and the state of Schleswig-Holstein as part of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the state program for fisheries and aquaculture.
In his blog, Holger Rüdel reports in several articles about the creation of the “Zeitenwende” project: Photo reports/Schleifischer
A summary selection of images can be seen here: Portfolio turning point
Press archive
“A turning point – thoughts on my photo report about the fishermen from Holm in Schleswig an der Schlei” by Holger Rüdel: Journal of Natural and Regional Studies, 2023.
“Looking at a dying craft. The fishermen from Holm”: Fotoforum 5/2022.
“Holmer Fischer make it big”: Schleswiger Nachrichten, July 1, 2021.
“Homage to the Holmer fishermen”: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag, Culture front page, May 27, 2021.
German Society for Photography: Review of the illustrated book “Turning of Times”.
“A monument to the Holm fishermen”: Kieler Nachrichten, Schleswig-Holstein front page, May 10, 2021.
“Bow in black and white”: Schleswiger Nachrichten, April 17, 2021.
“Great documentary about the Holmer fishermen”: Schleswiger Nachrichten, April 16, 2021.
“The Photographer and the Fishermen”: Schleswiger Nachrichten, January 4, 2021.
Pictures from this exhibition are available as FineArt prints in many versions.
