For this series, both photographers toured Europe’s major rivers and streams – the Elbe,
Rhine/Waal, Danube, Po and Volga – where social, ecological, political, economic and
historical themes become apparent and enable both artists to create a superlative portrait
of Europe. In images that are both emotionally powerful and photographically
impressive, they depict extracts from life, architecture, and portraits along Europe’s
biggest streams. The artists started at the Elbe, the Rhine and the Danube in Bulgaria in
2019. The Po followed that autumn and in February 2020 they continued on their journey
to the Volga. Visits to other rivers – the Rhône, Dnieper and Tagus – are planned.
Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler who have been working together for a few years now are
photographing the series in black and white with an analogue large-format camera. In
parallel with the exhibition at the Academy of Arts, Galerie Springer Berlin is showing a
selection from this series in a 92 x 115 cm format.

Ute Mahler (b. 1949), 1969–74, photographic studies, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig;
since 1974, freelance photographer; 2000, professor of photography, Hamburg
University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg); since 2005, lecturer at the
Ostkreuzschule
Werner Mahler (b. 1950), 1973–78, photographic studies, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig;
since 1978, freelance photographer; 2005, founder of the Ostkreuzschule for
Photography, Berlin; school director and lecturer
Ute and Werner Mahler: 1990, founding members of the OSTKREUZ agency; 2014, work
exhibition at the House of Photography, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, at the Rostock Art
Gallery, and many more besides.