Reinhard Karl
With his richly illustrated autobiographical work Erlebnis Berg: Zeit zum Atmen (Adventure Mountain: Time to breathe), mountaineer, writer and photographer Reinhard Karl put into words the philosophy of a generation of mountaineers and climbers.
“After each climb, when I get back down I feel like another person,” he said.
Like no other, Karl knew how to express his own experiences, thoughts and feelings on the mountain in words and images. Born in Heidelberg in 1946, Reinhard Karl died long before his time in an avalanche on Cho Oyu (8188 m), aged just 35 years.
However, he lives on in his words and photographs. Writer and filmmaker Tom Dauer uses the example of artist Clara Happ to show that his works haven’t lost their uniqueness even today. The 30-year old Happ makes woodcuts and lino-cuts on the basis of Reinhard Karl’s photos. She is not interested in the reproduction of details. Clara Happ tries to understand the power of Karl’s texts and the timeless aesthetics of the black-and-white and colour images he left behind – and transforms their beauty into the present using analogue technology.
