in front of the Wehlener Sonnenuhr,
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
includes signed print (1 of 50) and shipping within U.S.
17.75 x 14.25 inches
does not include framing
all profits go to City Harvest

Is this the perfect gift for the German wine dork in your life?

We hope so, because 100% of the profits will go to City Harvest in New York City - an amazing organization we've worked with before that provides food to those who need it most. It felt like the right thing to do this time of year.

If a photograph is a strange thing for us to be offering, this is a very easy story to tell.

In March of 2019 I was traveling through the Mosel; I had an early afternoon appointment with Katharina Prüm and we tasted and talked, as we have for many years at this point. A few hours passed in the domestic warmth of Prüm's iconic slate mansion on the Mosel. It had been gloomy most of the trip, a low ceiling of unremarkable gray. So I was surprised, as we said our goodbyes on the patio, to see that the clouds had dissipated. There was finally a blue sky visible beyond the diminishing islands of yellowing clouds. 

As I got to the car, parked right at the edge of the Mosel, I took a second to just take in the incredible panorama. And at that very moment, the clouds shifted and the late-afternoon sun, with its golden-yellow light, caught just a few of the contours across the top of the Sonnenuhr, leaving the bronzed vineyards and vivid blue sky in sharp contrast to the dark lower parts of the vineyard and the river itself, still in the shadows.

I took out my phone - as one does these days - framed it quickly and took the shot. Honestly, I didn't think about it much. I got in the car and drove on to the next appointment.

It was only later that I really looked at the photograph. The colors are incredibly saturating, the contours of light and shadow amazing. I think the photo checks all the boxes of the Romantic ideas of the natural landscape - it is beautiful. Yet, I also like the vaguely sinister quality, the play of light and darkness, like Magritte's famous 1954 painting "Empire of Light."

This is an amateur photograph, taken by an amateur. We - I - have no illusions of grandeur. Yet over the years I have come back to the photograph, again and again. We used it for the Source Material offer 003. A number of people asked about the photograph and I decided, more or less on a whim, to run a small edition of prints, to see how they would come out. I worked with a professional graphic artist and printing specialist to run the digital prints on 100# cover, archival paper stock.

We have run only 50 prints; each one is numbered and initialed by me. We will never run this photograph again. I am keeping one, so there are only 49 more to offer. Absolutely every penny of profit will be donated to City Harvest, a charity I've worked with over the years that provides an incredible service to the city of New York, collecting surplus food and delivering it to those who need it most.

Thank you so much and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday,

Stephen and Robert

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Print, "Thursday March 14th, 2019"
Original photograph taken by Stephen Bitterolf, March 14th, 2019. Limited edition, 50-print run digital print on 100# cover archival paper measuring 17.75 inches wide and 14.25 inches high. Each print is signed and numbered. Price does not include framing!

City Harvest
"City Harvest is New York City’s largest food rescue organization, helping to feed the more than 1.5 million New Yorkers who are struggling to put meals on their tables. They will rescue 111 million pounds of food this year and deliver it, free of charge, to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens and other community partners across the five boroughs. These programs help food-insecure New Yorkers access nutritious food that fits their needs and desires and strengthens the local food system, building a path to a food-secure future for all New Yorkers. Learn more cityharvest.org.

This offer is now closed.