Gütschow became known for her large-format landscape photographs, produced by assembling fragments of individual images on the computer. She has used this process to create her new black-and-white photographs. Her own photographs and others found in books and archives served as the basic material. The resulting images depict an unreal, apocalyptic world. We see uninhabited urban areas, fragments of civilization heaped on top of each other; empty lots are lined up, or are occupied by monumental buildings that once carried the weight of modern futurism. People are isolated islands in this inhospitable world: they appear alienated, lacking a tolerable way of keeping their lives together.
The images remind us of regions in crisis, but cannot be associated with a specific country or conflict. As do her panoramic landscapes, these urban scenarios disturb the viewer by their thoughtful treatment of remembered images. In breaking with reality, the images prompt us to look more carefully, impelling us to ask what lies behind the things we take for granted. The medium does not help us to place the images in a particular time period. Although black-and-white photography usually betokens authenticity or a documentary-like quality, the digital process turns the pictures into fiction. [Barbara Gross Galerie]