Tichá

de Thomas Ballhausen

Tichá is a border village in southern Bohemia, just one wooded hillside away from where Helmut Steinecker lives in the Austrian village of Unterwald. Along what was once the Iron Curtain and is now referred to as the Green Belt, Steinecker encounters relics from almost half a century of a divided Europe. This secluded area appears to be settling in to a new identity somewhere between ruins and kitsch. As a former restricted zone that is now opening up, the village finds itself in an exceptional situation historically. This village and its 100 or so inhabitants is the focal point of Steinecker's photography,a photography both objectively concentrated and emotionally affecting.The narrative text by Thomas Ballhausen, fragmented recollections of once iron clad threats, opens up a further dimension on the photographic essay.