Ulrich Heinke works as a visual artist primarily in the field of conceptual art. He found his way to photography by documenting his own work. What initially began as a search for clues in urban space developed into extensive journeys on which he approaches the urban landscape with precision, but also with loving lightness. He is less interested in the sights of well-known capitals than in the normality of medium-sized cities: he travels from Antwerp to Ostend, from Cagliari to Mulhouse, from Bern to Olomouc.

The smokestacks stand like exclamation marks in the urban landscape, sometimes superficially large, sometimes as a marginal detail, but always in the picture. The result is not a photographic series as a typological collection – the chimneys are the headline and bracket for a photo book about urban scenery. An old brick chimney increasingly loses its original function – and stands there as a relic, as a reminiscence of another time.

Ulrich Heinke is a poet of urban space, the mostly radiant light in his often deserted pictures transforms the places into scenes of a mysterious play – soon figures appear, the picture becomes the frame for a story that is about to happen – life is happening.

The picture section is preceded by an extensive text by the author – “First get out and see what’s going on”, a kind of instruction and philosophy for his photography.

Ulrich Heinke, *1964 in Kassel; lives and works in Berlin.