Gosbert Gottmann

With his photo series Bärenstark (As Strong as an Ox), Gosbert Gottmann provides insight into the – for outsiders often unfamiliar – everyday life of an intensive care facility for children and youths. He presents the silent moments, the sense of security and the tenderness and gentleness of the caregivers, as well as laughing children, who gaze with longing at the world outside. In some cases, his images depict merely a detail, such as a confusion of tubes or an isolated Bobby-Car.
Despite this closeness, Gottmann’s view onto the harsh reality of everyday life is genuine and also captures the loneliness of the children – and even death, when colorful balloons rise up into the sky over the city. Death is always present here, where life expectancy is sometimes measured in months, and where it can, every now and then, be extended into years and moral debates only appear as grey theory. Complementing Gottmann’s images are a collection of texts, which portray the dramatic, short life of the children, while at the same time revealing their unbroken zest for life.