Herzogenrath, Germany 2007

Curator: We're looking at "Herzogenrath, Germany," a photographic print by Witho Worms dating back to 2007. Editor: My immediate response is melancholy. The monochrome palette emphasizes the bleak, almost barren landscape. There's a sense of something monumental yet decaying. Curator: It’s interesting you say that, since a landscape, even a seemingly desolate one, is full of recurring cultural signifiers. Notice how Worms frames this…this hill—or perhaps even more symbolically a mountain. It reminds us of ancient burial mounds, these architectural memories holding the collective narratives of those who have gone before us. Editor: And, in that light, the photograph almost functions as a commentary on industrialization. The mound is likely artificial. Mining, maybe? And that field in the foreground seems utterly devoid of life, suggestive of ecological damage. I see this photo as evidence in an environmental audit. Curator: It's true that "monument" often has conflicting connotations—it’s a matter of what or who the monument memorializes. What rituals it evokes. But landscape photography so often becomes symbolic shorthand. Do you agree that the monochrome palette is a part of this rhetoric? Editor: Absolutely. It strips the scene of its immediacy, rendering it distant and… timeless, in a way that natural color could never do. But beyond timelessness, the gray-scale adds a layer of gravity that speaks to its potential artificiality and, frankly, violence. Curator: Perhaps the artist attempts to reveal how nature bears witness. I think Worms gives us a sacred site—altered perhaps, yet resonant with enduring meaning and warning, ultimately. Editor: Yes, I see what you mean. The somber aesthetic compels reflection and perhaps the photograph invites us to meditate on our own complex, collective culpability, and accountability, within damaged landscapes. Curator: Thank you, for that thought-provoking lens, that shifted my perception and that added depth, through which this photograph whispers tales of a landscape transformed, yet stubbornly resonant with the past. Editor: And for allowing me to examine the environmental ramifications of place making in order to connect the past and present!