We're excited to announce a new section in our gallery dedicated to emerging artists. This is a great opportunity to check out some fresh, new talent and see what they have to offer.
This week we're featuring the work of Heinz M Gut. Gut's work is characterized by its strong tonal contrasts and persuasive compositions. His photography often explores the relationship between light and dark, positive and negative space.
We believe that Gut is an artist to watch, and we're thrilled to be able to showcase his series Golden Eagles in our gallery in St. Moritz. Stop by and check it out!
From 08 - 22 October the gallery in Zurich remains closed.
Looking forward to seeing you in St. Moritz.
Heinz M. Gut is a photographer and book author from Switzerland who centres his artistic work on nature and wildlife photography all around the world. Introduced to the mountains from a very young age on, he first started a career as a rock climber which he pursued for more than a decade. He then completed his education with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and worked for many years in biophysics research. A few years ago, he decided to fully focus on his other great passions: photography and writing.
Like rock climbing and science, wildlife photography demands dedication and perseverance. One needs to engage oneself deeply in the subject and spend a lot of time in the wilderness. As he only photographs wild animals in their natural environment, a good picture is rarely a random shot. It often takes months of preparation and many attempts. The photographer needs to study the behaviour and local habits of the animal and combine this information with the light situation, image composition, texture and distance of the background, and the speed of the animal`s movement, to obtain a great photograph. It takes a lot of patience. But when everything comes together, including a good portion of luck, it is an incredibly thrilling experience. By keeping a keen eye on the aesthetics, dynamics, and powerful energy of a specific animal, or centring his attention on the elusive, atmospheric moment of scenery, he tries to preserve rare and precious moments in time for a general audience.
Through his work, he aims at opening people's hearts to the beauty of the natural world. Nowadays, most people live a fast-paced, consume-oriented life in a completely artificial environment. Unfortunately, they are unaware or have forgotten that our planet is made of stunning landscapes teeming with magnificent creatures. Habitat loss caused by the transformation of wild and functional ecosystems into agricultural, or industrial areas has brought thousands of species to the brink of extinction. It is therefore highly important to remind humans of the magical, natural world so that the remaining wilderness and life can be preserved. Heinz M. Gut hopes that the incredible beauty and powerful energy of the wild animals and sceneries in his photographs contribute to this important task.
Combining his interest in wildlife photography and the Swiss Alps, he centered his first long-term project on a highly challenging subject: the golden eagle. Rare, elusive, fast, and at home in difficult to access, rugged mountain territories, golden eagles are notoriously difficult to find and photograph.
"Throughout my entire life, whenever I have spotted a golden eagle in the mountains, I have been in awe of this absolutely majestic creature. It`s sheer size, the fierce look, the unbelievable flight skills, the noblesse, and dignity of the raptor always leaves a deep impression on me." He describes his feelings for the majestic creature.
It took years to learn where to find golden eagles and how to photograph them. In dozens of excursions into the mountains, he scouted lookouts in large rock walls, studied the eagles` habitats, reviewed their behaviour in the different seasons and weather systems, took the local wind systems and development of thermals into account, and learned where these birds of prey hunt and how they transport their kill to the eyrie. All of this was needed to maximize the likelihood of getting a golden eagle in front of his camera. For at least a couple of seconds.
Over many years, he established a series of golden eagle photographs which are now available as fine-art prints. A photography book about the king of birds accompanies the artistic work. With almost one hundred black-and-white golden eagle and mountain photographs, it not only celebrates the visual beauty of this legendary raptor and its splendid mountain home, but also highlights the worldwide, cultural and mythological importance of the golden eagle with well-researched background information, and a collection of short stories, fairy tales, and poems (Golden Eagles: Legendary Birds of Prey, Benteli Publishers Switzerland, 2022).
