Breaking
the Surface

We would know much less about the ocean without the discoveries made by female researchers. Women have contributed to marine research from the outset, often overlooked in the history books, and often despite considerable challenges. In many cases, men have taken credit for their findings. This exhibit is intended to highlight women’s contributions, while also putting the focus on female researchers of today: their careers, their insights, and their questions for the ocean.

Accordingly, Breaking the Surface isn’t just about exploring unknown regions of the ocean, but also about breaking through the glass ceiling in a field that was dominated by men for generations. Here, the focus is on the portraits and voices of women currently working at German research centers. The combination of closeup photos, their own stories, handwritten notes, and snapshots from their daily work offers a multi-layered view of modern oceanography.

The exhibit illustrates how closely scientific work is bound to researchers’ curiosity, experience and personal standpoints. And it shows how many questions about our ocean are still unanswered – for the scientific community, for society, and for future generations.

Marzena Skubatz's photographs tell of closeness, atmosphere and the invisible in the everyday. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Die Zeit and Der Spiegel, among others. She is a member of the international network Women Photograph and lives between Berlin and Iceland.

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