Elger Essers ‘The Narrow Waters’ (Kerber Publishing) – the quiet force of rivers as a symbol for the flow of time and a poetic bridge to Julien Gracq’s work of the same name
With ‘The Narrow Waters’, publishing house Kerber presents a collection of more than 60 depictions of river landscapes in a photo book created by Elger Esser (*1967) over the last 25 years. Again and again, the artist traces the literary trail of famous writers such as Proust, Maupassant, and Flaubert. Shown in several of the images is the Èvre, a tributary of the Loire, which French author Julien Gracq (1910-2007) describes in his essay collection ‘The Narrow Waters’. Selected passages from his writings are juxtaposed with the post-romantic landscapes of Elger Essers, for instance: “The images are what foreshadow the encounter; it is the encounter that completes the images.”
His photographs often exude a calmness, they seem timeless while capturing the slow flowing movement of bodies of water as well as landscapes. His work resembles that of Gracq in the similar use of the river as a symbolic and meditative element. While Gracq employs the experience of a calm river ride in ‘The Narrow Waters’ as a means of contemplation upon life, time and recollection, Esser captures a similar calmness and tranquility. In their own way, both succeed in establishing a deep connection between nature and inner experience. The quite force of flowing rivers as a symbol of the flow of time and reflection upon life are a common theme found in both works.
“… A new picture of the Èvre, a small river that flows slightly unnoticed into the Loire at Saint Florent le Viel, so that I ignored it for many years, if it weren’t for the wonderful book by Julien Gracq, ‘The Narrow Waters’, which describes in a chiseled way a boat trip on this river, more than a trip… it is a journey around the world through perception and contemplation by means of a small rivulet.” Elger Esser.
Elger Esser works mainly with the medium of photography and is one of the most significant members of the Becher School from Dusseldorf. From early in his career, he explored historic landscape photography, which has had, and continues to have, a huge influence on his work. For the most part, the analog images that he subsequently subjects to further processing, are photographed by the sea or by rivers, most of which in France.
Elger Esser ‘The Narrow Waters’ (Kerber Publishing)
23 × 16.8 cm, 120 pages, 63 colored illustrations, hardcover, ISBN 978-3-7356-1005-8
Editor: Ute Bopp-Schumacher, Dr.-Hanns-Simon Foundation, Neue Galerie, Haus Beda, Bitburg
Text: Ute Bopp-Schumacher, Julien Gracq, and Stephanie Kaak
Design: Monika Malsy Kommunikationsdesign, Düsseldorf
Exhibition: ‘Elger Esser – The Narrow Waters’, Neue Galerie, Haus Beda, Bitburg, 7 September 2024 through 12 January 2025.
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