Fritz Pölking

May 2007


From the program

Friday, May 11: 6:45 – 7:15 pm

  Fritz Pölking (digital slide presentation)

  Adventure Wildlife Photography

Fritz Pölking, born in Krefeld , Germany in 1936, had already started with wildlife/nature photography in 1951. He is said to be the pathfinder of modern wildlife photography in Europe and counts as one of the biggest in this field on an international level. Who better to let the "adventure wildlife/nature photography" pass in retrospect then the honorable member of the "GDT" (German Wildlife Photography Association)? So let's rewind the film and take a look at its beginning.

The first exposures on film were from the end of the 19th Century. They were made by Ottmar Anschütz in 1884 with his famous series of pictures about storks and Reginald Lodge who took the first outdoor pictures of a breeding northern lapwing in 1895. The next photographers to push the virtual trigger of our imagined camera were the great English nature photographers. Back then, Richard Kearton, George Yeates and Eric Hoskins had already been concentrating on taking pictures of birds. So it really wasn’t very surprising when an exhibition in London by the "Zoological Society Of London" in 1912 showed pictures of 174 different types of birds, 95% of which were taken under non-domestic conditions – out in nature.

 

Not only the wildlife/nature photographers behind our imagined camera came and went – technology also changed. Colored film was put into the cameras, telephoto lenses were being attached and the sharpness came through auto focus. Then one day a microchip took over the function of saving pictures and pushed the film out of the camera. But – what has Fritz Pölking written on his website: "it isn’t the great camera that takes great pictures; it is the photographer who is outdoors at the right place, at the right time."

 

The victorious journey of wildlife/nature photography will go on and continue without fail in spite of all the changes and with new technology towards greater shores, with pictures from all 5 continents and of all flora, fauna and landscapes. The "adventure wildlife/nature photography" will continue and Fritz Pölking will let you take part in it in Fürstenfeldbruck.

 

Saturday, May 12: 1.30 – 2.30 pm

Fritz Pölking (digital slide presentation)

A Moment out of the Lives of Birds in Pictures

Fritz Pölking, born in Krefeld- Germany , in 1936, had already started with wildlife/nature photography in 1951. In 1968 he became "Master of Photography" and as of 1970 he was also a publisher of books and magazines about nature. It was he who published the only magazine for wildlife/nature photographers called "Tier- und Naturfotografie" (animal and nature photography) which was the predecessor of the current "NaturFoto". His being voted "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" in 1977 in England and the "Naturfotograf des Jahres" (Wildlife/Nature Photographer of the Year) in 1977, 1981 and 1992 in Germany are an example of his commendations. Now, in the digital era, he passes on his knowledge and shares his experience in workshops and on photo trips.

 


 

He is said to be the pathfinder of modern wildlife photography in Europe and counts as one of the biggest in this field on an international level. He has earned many merits around the subject of wildlife/nature photography besides his own photographical opus. As such he is a founding father of the "GDT" (German Wildlife Photography Association) and honorary member as of 1993. In that same year he was awarded the "Fritz-Steiniger-Prize" for his service to wildlife/nature photography.

The 70 year old is dedicated to wildlife/nature photography with enormous enthusiasm, no matter if he is flying to Florida to photograph ospreys or to Spain to take pictures of storks. The pleasure he derives from nature and photography has never gone, on the contrary, it may have even grown stronger in the past few years.

 

 

 

Fritz Pölking, within his function as wildlife/nature photographer, considers himself a journalist with a camera. He sees it as his duty to give fast, accurate, nuanced and accounted renditions of moments in nature - and above all, pristine. He can document moments of nature only with his camera. That is what makes photography unique and distinctive for him.

The pictures by the man from Greven shown on the screen during his presentation at the Events Forum in Fürstenfeldbruck: "Momentaufnahmen aus dem Leben der Vögel" (pictures of moments from the lives of birds) are also distinctive; no matter if it is of kingfishers in the Munsterland of Germany, ospreys in Finland, white-tailed eagles in Norway and Alaska, penguins or perhaps herons and owls in Florida.

 

 

 

 

His pictures of birds show moments straight from nature – beautiful, suspenseful, humorous, informative or dramatic; and whoever listens to him will understand that Germany´s most famous wildlife/nature photographer considers the world of birds as a gift to photography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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