Toxic Aesthetics

The photographs of Sebastan Bühler take us on a trip to the southeast of Europe, to Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia. On the border between aesthetic and documentary photography, these images show places that are unfortunately common in the Balkan region: Garbage dumps, where our trash creates living and working space for destitute people. Open-cast mines and factories that deplete earths finite resources to create cheap and dirty electricity. Toxic waste and by-products left behind by the energy industry that slowly seep into the soil, water and air. Bühler makes those devastating sceneries visible through his photographs. The aerial views of the landscape resemble (especially in their details) abstract paintings and captivate the viewer with strong contrasts and vivid colors. This abstracting factor tempts the viewer to be impressed by the aesthetic beauty of these bird‘s-eye shots, contrasting the actual reality of human misconduct and the ongoing pollution of our environment.