Photographer Oliver Kern (*1965 in Saarbrucken) travels throughout Germany on the lookout for places connected to German identity. His photographs are taken on the road, during fleeting encounters on parking lots, at events, or in supermarkets. For The German Perspective he selected around fifty pictures taken over the course of his travels since 2002. In his serial works, the artist encounters people in the structures in which they live, and instead of singling out big landmarks, he discovers small symbols that capture characteristic atmospheres, because the grand symbols have long lost their meaning in people's everyday lives. In between, only ostensibly unchanging, is the landscape in a permanent state of reconstruction but still constantly defining the horizon. Exhibition schedule: UNESCO-Welterbe Zollverein Schacht XII, Kohlenwasche [A14], Portal der Industriekultur, Rundeindicker, Essen, October 3, 2012-January 13, 2013 | And further venues