BE LIKE WATER, MY FRIEND

Ulrike Reetz – BE LIKE WATER, MY FRIEND

Everything is chaos; Everything is water.

„Water may pour from the heaven or run along the channels dug out by men; or flow clear and pure having the Ocean as their goal…In the midst of the Waters is moving the Lord, surveying men’s truth and men’s lies. How sweet are the Waters, crystal clear and cleansing…From whom… all the Beings drink exhilarating strength, into whom the Universal Lord has entered…” Shatapatha Brahmana, India.

The rush of water is drowned out by the city life. And here these photographs appear as close-ups. Intense. Flowing. In every form and color. The drama of the moment already exists there in each different frame. If we are looking at an image and we want to relate it to ourselves, we need to know something of the content. And here the opening information is relevant to the reading and grasping of Ulrike Reetz´s photographs. None of these pictures require a title, I believe.

Everything in these frames has a historical mapping. Of centuries. Yet it also concerns the present moment. What we see in the photo must have been seen in ancient Egypt, in India centuries ago. Yet this changelessness represents only an instant when placed in the context of another ‘time-scale’. It is not because the resultant fixed image is like a static post in a flowing river.

“The significance of the photographed moment is already claiming minutes, hours, weeks and years“ John Berger. The water in every color and flow is there so the image of what
is – shall remain. In this way its inherent strength in every situation assumes acceptance. Without changing it’s content. Be like Water, my friend, a photographic solo exhibition of Ulrike Reetz celebrates the changelessness of the inherent identity.

A sailor in her spirit who travels on different waters throughout the world, Ulrike Reetz lives and works in Berlin. Gallery UNDER THE MANGO TREE is pleased to invite you for the exhibition.