Sigrid Vollerthun was born and raised in Germany. All her life she has had an interest in visual arts and design. From 1972-1979 she was active in the Committee of the Art Society of the International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
Ms. Vollerthun’s interest in photography began during the early 1990s when she joined two very active camera clubs. After attending numerous workshops and seminars (a. o. by renowned Canadian photographer, Freeman Patterson, photographer and educator, Joseph Miller, and photographer, artist and author, Theresa Airey), Sigrid knew she had found her passion and her pursuit of becoming a fine art photographer began.
Nature is the subject of many of her photographs; however, digital fantasies, abstract imagery and dreamscapes are a major part of her repertoire. She uses her camera not only as a recording device, but like a painter uses his brush, filling the images with glorious colors.
Sigrid is a self-taught photographer, who is the recipient of several prestigious photographic awards including a coveted winner’s trophy in the International Photography Contest of NATURE’S BEST Photography Magazine in 2003 and 1998. Her photographs were also published in the National Wildlife Federation Magazine. In 2004, her images were featured in the documentary series entitled “Photographers of Northern Virginia” produced by Channel 10, Public Access Television. She has participated in many juried exhibitions and her work is represented in private collections in the US and abroad.
Ms. Vollerthun’s photographs have gained the attention of art critics. In May, 1999, Nancy Ungar of the Gazette Entertainment wrote, “For Sigrid Vollerthun color itself is the subject. Vollerthun pulls her camera in so tightly on an iris that the identification of the object as a flower is almost lost and the iris becomes a color abstraction.”
In July, 2003, Claudia Rousseau of the Gazette Entertainment wrote, “…In her triptych, “Bird of Paradise,” the echo of the jewel-like colors of the tropical flower and its natural habitat are expressed in overlapping elongated forms. Flame-like, they almost appear to be swaying. The very large “Santa Fe Mood” recalls Georgia O’Keefe’s New Mexico landscapes without imitating them. In “Red Calla Fantasy” and “Calla Meditation,” Vollerthun analyses the lily’s forms simultaneously graphic and organic abstractions.”
