Under the term “solitude”, I deal with the two facets of being alone. The positive notion of self-chosen independence on the one hand and the negative perception of unwanted loneliness on the other hand. In my pictures it is often in the eye of the beholder and its individual life experiences whether a photo is perceived as an expression of independence or loneliness. The technical leitmotif is “Reduce to the Max”: square, black and white, simple and authentic. There is nothing in the pictures that was not already on the analogue or digital negative.
Since 1923 there is an annual sports car race at Le Mans (France). Teams of three drivers and one car aim to make more laps than their competition in 24 hours. A further challenge is the often changing weather, with sometimes heavy rains.
Sport photographs typically show the athletes or their cars. The series “Watching Le Mans” is taking another perspective and is telling the story of the 2024 race through photographs of the spectators.
The audience of the photo exhibition can complement the pictures in their mind by imagining what possibly happened on the race track triggering the reaction of the spectator.
This is WORK IN PROGRESS and further pictures will be added and the series moved to the “Projects” section
In the 21st century the term “Virtual Reality” is associated with 3D near-eye displays. The series “Complementary Virtual Reality” changes the perspective and highlights that mirrors are as well devices of virtual reality as they create an illusion of reality.
The pictures show unmodified street scenes where the reflection in the mirrors merge with reality. The audience is invited to find out what is genuine and what is reflection.
Birds are traditional symbols for freedom and independence. The series “free as a bird” emphasizes these qualities by putting them in contrast with the static elements of the urban environment.
It invites the audience to leave the static burdens of their daily life and sorrows behind them, take a bird’s mindset and look at their troubles with a different perspective from above. Whilst concerns might look big and threatening from below, they will look smaller with some distance and unexpected solutions might materialize from a change of perspective.
Historically portraits have been painted to remember powerful people. There was an inherent imbalance between the status of the painted person and the audience, as the earlier didn’t care who was admiring his or her portrait.
The series “face to face” is changing that one-sided perspective. It captures apparent interactions between spectators and objects and the audience might even guess if the portraits have their own thoughts about those watching them.
At the bay of Saint-Malo (France) there is an elderly diving tower. It is a favorite place for young people to impress each other. Sometimes, however, the youngsters are surprised by the change of perspective and that the sea-level looks much further away from above than expected from the ground. Some jump anyway, others stroll around the platform indecisively or sneak down as inconspicuously as possible.
Viewers may emphasize with the feelings of the teenagers and may be motivated by the series to stick to their plans despite unexpected hurdles.
