Experience Günter Derleth's Camera Obscura: Time and Light in Fürth
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When the Sun Draws Traces: Günter Derleth's Photographic Course of Time
The art gallery Fürth presents Display No.10: Günter Derleth — In the Course of Time, an extraordinary camera obscura photography in the publicly visible window area at Königsplatz. At the center is an image that does not capture the moment, but makes the passage of time visible.
An Espresso Can as a Camera
Since 1993, the artist Günter Derleth from Fürth has been devoted to pinhole photography. His devices are made from everyday and unusual materials: matchbox, stacked books, walk-in spaces, or an Illy espresso can. The technical reduction of the camera obscura forgoes lens and viewfinder, opening the work’s observation to chance, light, and duration.
Eight Months of Light and Landscape
For the exhibited photography, Derleth attached an espresso can with a small hole behind the fence of his garden facing south. Over eight months, from spring to autumn, the light fell on the photo paper mounted inside. The movement of the sun left glowing arcs that span across the horizon, transforming the landscape into a silent chronicle of cosmic movement.
The Aesthetic Experience of the Imperfect
The image, measuring only about 12 × 9 centimeters, develops an astonishing atmospheric effect. Color, form, and spatial perception arise not from digital precision but through long exposure, materiality, and controlled chance. That a color-like image emerged on black-and-white photo paper gives the work an almost magical quality.
Seeing Inside and Outside Anew
The curated presentation integrates the landscape motif into the two divided facade windows of the gallery. This shifts the perception of inside and outside: the exhibition space becomes an observation instrument, while the urban space becomes part of the aesthetic experience. The DISPLAY series activates the window front as an independent, externally accessible platform for contemporary art.
Art Historical Classification and Artist Biography
Günter Derleth, born in 1941 in Nuremberg, initially worked as an advertising photographer and then turned to freelance photography. His artistic practice combines analog photography, photogram, and self-built cameras. In numerous exhibitions and award-winning photo books, he explores travel, landscapes, and his own garden as spaces of slowed perception. For his cultural engagement, he received the special prize for culture from the city of Fürth in 2018; in 2026, he was awarded the Otto-Grau Culture Prize from the district of Mittelfranken.
Conclusion: Time Becomes Visible
This art experience makes it clear how poetic freedom emerges from technical limitations. The exhibition invites focused contemplation of light, landscape, material, and duration. Those wishing to experience photography as cultural education, sensual experience, and art historical research should discover In the Course of Time live at Königsplatz.
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- Website: https://kunstgalerie.fuerth.de
