Current Exhibition

ATRIUM SACRUM

Habitats in Transition

A photographic series from inside the tree by Tom Kretschmer.

"In situ" recording setting in the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park

Atrium Sacrum is a photographic journey into the heart of deadwood. The series explores tree hollows as sacred spaces—archaic temples of nature, shaped by beetles, fungi, and microorganisms. Through mystical light falling as if through church windows, the hollows become a microcosm uniting transience and renewal. A liminal space between becoming and decaying.

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Image No. 12, 27 x 36 cm

Image No. 13, 27 x 36 cm

Deadwood – an entire universe

Deadwood is not a place of endings but a source of new life. Larvae carve tunnels, fungi decompose wood, microorganisms convert organic matter back into water and carbon dioxide. This eternal cycle of transformation is reflected in the feeding traces, which resemble ornaments of ancient cathedrals. The series Atrium Sacrum shows how the seemingly dead becomes a breeding ground for the new—a symbol of the cyclical nature of life. As we live, we decay. And as we decay, new things are born.

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The hollow whispers. It reminds us of something we have forgotten. A place created not by human hands, but by the breath of time.

Light as the creator of sacred spaces

The mysticism in Atrium Sacrum arises from the staging with light. Soft light shapers in the hollows create an atmosphere reminiscent of the vaults of ancient cathedrals. The harsh backlighting falling through the entrance recalls the light streaming through church windows. The tree hollows were photographed in the Biesenthaler Becken (Brandenburg) and the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park. They are presented in custom-made oak frames crafted from wood sourced from the Biesenthaler Becken.

The work on Atrium Sacrum was a quiet immersion into the forest and a dialogue with its hidden worlds. I knelt down, smelled the earthy scent, listened deeply, and let myself surrender. The longer I lingered, the closer the animals came—a feeling that the forest was embracing me.