ECKART BARTNIK
CV
Eckart Bartnik lives and works in Wiesbaden, Germany. Following a career in biological research, he has devoted himself to analogue and digital photography since the early 1980s. His work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions and published in newspapers, magazines, and specialist publications. In 2025, he was nominated for the Prix Pictet. He is a member of the German Photographic Society (DGPh).
Artist Statement
I am interested in states of transition where certainties begin to falter and new spaces of experience emerge. I see photography as a medium that allows these transitions to become perceptible.
My work unfolds between two complementary approaches: Abstraction and Reflection. They are not opposites, but two different ways of pursuing the same artistic inquiry.
In my abstract works, I transform nature into colour, structure, and surface. Familiar scales dissolve as the microcosm and the macrocosm meet on the level of form. These images create visual spaces in which perception loses its certainty and seeing becomes an act of exploration.
Under the title Reflection, my focus shifts to the relationship between people, objects, and their environment. Landscapes, artefacts, and cultural traces become condensations of history, memory, and the present. Rather than offering explanations, these works reveal fractures, overlaps, and hidden relationships. They explore the in-between—those states of transition in which our perception of reality begins to shift.
Publications
2026
ARTDOC Photography Magazine #2/26: Abstract Visions: "INTERFACES"
2026
PHOTONEWS #6/26: "Ich – selbst": "Fragmente"
2025
Storm, Prix Pictet, Hatje Cantz, pages 62 and 63: "Wrenched railroad tracks" from "FLOOD"
2025
ARTDOC Photography Magazine #2/25 - Interview: "Alien elements as abstract symbols"
2024
"Zwischen Wurzel und Wipfel – Fragmente aus dem Netzwerk Wald", catalogue, Walkmühle, Wiesbaden
2023
ARTDOC Photography Magazine #4/23 on "Shapes and colours" with "Ice sculptures"
2023
Talk "Scientific observation and photographic reflection" given for Förderverein Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie (April 18)
2023
Featured in article "Crisis? What crisis?" by Keith Wilson in Amateur Photographer UK (February 7)
2022
Contribution to "The Evidence Project" by Britta Jaschinsky and Keith Wilson, Photographers against Wildlife Crime—see link in NEWS
2022
1730Sat1live: Fotos aus dem Ahrtal auf den Wiesbadener Fototagen (August 24) - see link in NEWS
2022
Hessenschau: Wiesbadener Fototage zeigen Bildgewalt der Verwüstung (August 11) - see link in NEWS
2022
FAZ: "Zeugnisse einer Katastrophe" (Testimonies of a catastrophe) (July 14) - see link in NEWS
2022
Kwerfeldein: "Fotografisches Wachstum in Vielfalt" (April 19) PDF with english translation - see link in NEWS
2021
ARTDOC Photography Magazine: Special Inspiration Page: "FLOOD" (Oct. 18)
2021
LifeForceMagazine: "Flood Remains" (Autumn 2021 issue)
2019
FAZ: "Hütet euch vor der Anderswelt" (Beware of the otherworld) - "Alfar Rokk" (March 7) - see link in NEWS
2019
Aint-Bad: What We’ve Found: "Spirituality in Suburbia" (Sept. 2)
2018
Wings magazin: "Gummiglück" (Jan.-Feb.)
2017
Spiegel online: "Kaugummiautomaten: Indikator für vernachlässigte Orte" (Sept. 21) - see link in NEWS
2017
The Guardian online: "Gumball-obsession - Balls of fun!" (Sept. 19) - see link in NEWS
2017
GUP Magazine online: "Disenchantment" (Nov. 11)
2014
Lichtblick School, Cologne: Theatre of Real Life #6: "Verzahnung"
2013
FAZ: Ein konkurrenzloses Archiv des Lebens - Naturhistorische Sammlung des Museums Wiesbaden (Sept. 4)
2013
Lichtblick School, Cologne #5: "WesterWorld"
1982
Stern: Neuseeland
Awards - Achievements
2026
Athens Photo Festival: "SPHERES COLLIDING" shortlisted
2024
Prix Pictet Nomination for "FLOOD"
2024
Artistic achievement at the Luxembourg Art Prize for "Landscapes of the Unconscious"
2024
Fine Art Photography Awards: Nominee in the Abstract category with "CYTO-GALAXIES"
2022
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia: "FLOOD-SCULPTURES" shortlisted
2022
Portfolio Walk, Deutsche Fotografische Akademie: "FLOOD-SCULPTURES"
2022
Athens Photo Festival: "FLOOD-SCULPTURES" shortlisted
2021
Appointment to the German Photographic Society (DGPh)
2020
Finalist Portfolio Walk, Deutsche Fotografische Akademie: "AM FLUSS"
2019
Minimalist Photography Award: Landscape Photographer of The Year, 1st place winner with "ELVEN ROCKS"
2013
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia: "WesterWorld" shortlisted
2012
Deutsche Fotografische Akademie, Deichtorhallen Hamburg: Portfolio-Walk; "WesterWorld"
1977
British Council Cologne: 1st Photo Prize
Group exhibitions
2026
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart: "Unruhe" mit "SPHERES COLLIDING"
2026
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia: "SPHERES COLLIDING"
2025
Art Center Dreieich: "Sichtbar:Unsichtbar" mit "RESONANZEN"
2024
Fotografie Forum Frankfurt: "Passionately": "Flut"
2024
Künstlerverein Walkmühle, Wiesbaden: "Zwischen Wurzel und Wipfel": "Schicksalsgemeinschaft"
2024
ARTDOC exhibition: "Creative photography": "CYTO-GALAXIES"
2023
Künstlerverein Walkmühle, Wiesbaden: "Die Kunst zu Schenken": "CYTO-GALAXIES and ICE SCULPTURES"
2022
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, USA, online exhibition of "FLOOD".
2022
Helsinki Photo Festival "Believe": "Relicts" - 07.07-2.10.2022
2022
Wiesbadener Fototage "Turbulent Times": "Flut" - 13.08.-28.08.2022
2019
Galerie Ka:Ost, Frankfurt: "Simple Nature": "Im Tal"
2018
Galerie Ka:Ost, Frankfurt: Luminale: "Who am I really?"
2018
Fotografie Forum Frankfurt: FFF Academy: "Am Fluss"
2018
Galerie Ka:Ost, Frankfurt: "Leidenschaft": "Disenchantment"
2017
Wiesbadener Fototage "Insight": "Ambivalence - Topography of faith"
2015
Wiesbadener Fototage "Heimat X": "WesterWorld – Heimat aber wie?"
2014
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia: "WesterWorld"
2011
Galerie Fotoristisch. Wiesbaden: "Iceland"
1988
Rockefeller University, New York: "City Views"
Solo exhibitions
2025
Stadtmuseum, Wiesbaden: "TONGRUBEN"
2021
Galerie Alles Mögliche, Berlin: "FLUT - Von der Gewalt der Gewässer"
2020
Industrie- und Handelskammer, Darmstadt: "DIVERGENZ"
2019
Visiopharm, Horsholm, Denmark: , "ALFAR ROKK"
2016
Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt: "RESEARCH – face to face"
2014
Ortho-Zentrum, Karlsruhe: "GRENZFLÄCHEN"
2009
Visiopharm, Horsholm, Denmark: "ABSTRACT"
1982
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn: Audiovisual: "Australia and New Zealand"
1982
WDR television magazine EFF EFF: Audiovisual: "Australia and New Zealnd"
1981
Australian Embassy and Dresdner Bank: "Australia and New Zealnd"
Collections
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt - Sanofi Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt - Visiopharm, Horsholm, Denmark