It’s the cheerful lightness and naturalness that give Gerd Rattei’s photographs a tremendous force. Perhaps the strongest are those photographs in which the female body appears embedded in a landscape. But the images that seem more playful, sometimes displaying a subtle irony, also exert an irresistible attraction on the viewer. The art of Gerd Rattei consists of pulling the trigger at the right moment and capturing the fleeting moment for eternity. Gerd Rattei is considered a pioneer of GDR nude photography: in 1975, together with Klaus Ender, he organized the first nude exhibition in Potsdam, which traveled throughout the entire republic. This volume shows for the first time a cross-section of his nude photographic work: a sensual and lively homage to the feminine and life itself.

‘Gerd Rattei’s portraits show self-confident and self-determined women. He gives them their space. There is no trace of voyeurism.’
– Lausitzer Rundschau