Inselmenschen. Island People

Exhibition Opening with photographs by Ulrick Mack

Two islands on either side of the Atlantic – Pellworm in North Frisia and Harkers Island in North Carolina – were joined together by him. As early as 1978–1984, he created a work that could not be more relevant today. A bridge. A journey. A mirror across the Atlantic. Two island communities that are strikingly similar.

Ulrich Mack (1934–2024) was one of the most important German photographers of the post-war period and a World Press Photo award winner. MACK. Four letters, full stop. We experience visual communication defined by precision work, combined with a clear, humanistic visual language and keen attention to the people he portrayed.

Mack’s photographs of the “Inselmenschen” on Pellworm and the “Island People” of Harkers Island are the result of careful, long-term photographic observation. In the intimate encounter with the individual, something universal is revealed – a quiet image of human connection across geographical and cultural boundaries. This is precisely where the exhibition unfolds a special relevance and its broad intercultural horizon today.

For the exhibition opening at the Carl-Schurz-Haus in Freiburg on May 20, 2026, at 7 PM, the “Island People” of Harkers Island and the “Inselmenschen” of Pellworm will join live to open the exhibition together. Among them will be contemporary witnesses who are themselves part of the photographic series.

In Freiburg, the images symbolically cross a transatlantic bridge before finally returning to the people they depict. More than 30 years ago, MACK. expressed his wish this way: “Where these photographs were taken, that is where they should stay.” And so, after visiting this German-American bridge, the world-traveled exhibition will finally return home. To Pellworm and to Harkers Island.

Julian Mack, the photographer’s son, will be present at the opening. A bilingual introduction will be given by Lydia Sieweke from Pellworm and Friederike Schulte, who will be following the photographs this summer as she moves to Pellworm.

Click here on May 20 to watch the livestream of the opening reception with remarks live from Pellworm and Harkers Island, NC.

The images will be on display until August1, 2026.