Normally, Dresden, Germany, is thousands of miles from Columbus, Ohio; this month however, the sister cities can be found closer together in Hopkins Hall.

Fredrik Marsh, a Columbus-based photographer and Otterbein College professor, and Inga Paas, a Dresden photographer, switched places during the summer of 2002, and are now presenting what they discovered during their displacement in the Hopkins Hall Gallery through Dec. 5.

Marsh and Paas were able to visit each other’s cities through an exchange program funded by the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Saxonian State Ministry entitled the Artist Exchange Program.

This program sends artists from Columbus to other sister cities across seas bi-annually. Usually anywhere from two to four artists from Columbus are accepted into the program. Dresden will then send the same number of artists to Columbus.

Paas and Marsh decided to show their work collectively to bring together their different perspectives on each other’s cultures.

“Every artist that has this opportunity comes away much richer and the community that they visit will also have that enriching experience,” said Prudence Gill, Hopkins Hall curator.

She said she does not necessarily have a favorite piece in the show because it’s the combination of the pieces that is especially powerful.

“I wouldn’t pick a favorite because it’s the relationship between the pieces and it’s the knowledge we get from their work and the opportunity to see how they perceive each other’s cities,” Gill said.

During their time abroad, Paas and Marsh e-mailed a few times but did not coordinate their work or plan to have a show together until they were back in their respective cities. They are also displaying their work in Dresden this month, so the shows will be displayed simultaneously in Columbus and Dresden.

“It will be two different perspectives from two different cultures,” Marsh said.

Diane Nance, vice president for Programs Community Funding, said Dresden was a wonderful addition to the program.

“Dresden is so remarkable because the people and the government over there, as well as artists and schools, have been extraordinarily supportive,” Nance said.

The Columbus exchange program began 11 years ago.

“The idea of parallel cultural expansion started these exchanges,” Nance said.

During his trip to Dresden, Marsh tried to capture the devastating beauty of Dresden’s history. Dresden is located in the former East Germany and was fire-bombed during the end of World War ll, leaving the city and the lives of its people in ruins.

“If you look at Fred’s work you can see the upheaval that has happened in Dresden,” Gill said.

Marsh describes the idea he captures in his photographs as “terrible beauty.” The objects he focuses on, such as abandoned apartments, flood damaged landscapes and industrial sites, are places which are not normally thought of as beautiful.

“As artists we are trained to look at the world objectively, to look at what’s in front of us more openly.” Marsh said. “There is beauty everywhere.”

He described the reaction to his pictures as looking at something ugly or something prohibited.

“It is like looking at something that repulses you, but at the same time you are drawn to it,” he said.

Marsh received both his graduate and undergraduate degrees from Ohio State.

“It is particularly gratifying to show in Hopkins Hall again. Last time I did was for my MFA thesis show almost twenty years ago,” he said.

Marsh said he is looking forward to returning to Germany next week.

“When I first arrived there I was terrified because I didn’t speak the language, but the people were wonderful to me,” Marsh said.