Contemporary German Photography
Contemporary German Photography
September 16 - 23, 2014
Pingyao International Photography Festival
curated by Thomas Kellner
participating photographers: Anna Katharina Zeitler, Roger Eberhard, Ferit Kuyas, Gesche Wuerfel, Katharina Mouratidi, Frank Rothe, Dirk Hanus, Jutta Schmidt, and Frauke Thielking.
Our lifes can be adventures every day; we have become the observers through the photographs of others, everywhere, in social media or on billboards. We find ourselves in the position of the spectator and voyeur, when photography becomes the visual information from our dear friends, their friends or complete strangers.
Choosing a life in Photography one has to find his own position. The exhibition Contemporary German Photography shows 10 positions of photographers from German speaking countries, not only living in Germany, but also in Switzerland, or temporarily abroad. Photography means to make a step to where you want to go with your idea. We find the impressive portraits and statements by the winners of the Alternative Nobel price by Katharina Mouratidi, the crystal clear portraits of young girls just learned swimming by Jutta Schmidt, a retro female approach from young Anna Katharina Zeitler, and a very distant documentary of basements by Gesche Wuerfel. Well observing , partly staging, but animating our own imaginations in abstract puzzles can be seen in the work by Frauke Thielking. The life of others and another society can be discovered by Berlin photographer Frank Rothe in Los Angeles, or the research of same gender couples in California by Daniel Schumann. Some may dream to stay their holidays in a noble holiday, but Roger Eberhard found an absurd hotel, that offers to live like in the shakes of hometowns in South Africa. When living or dreaming becomes difficult it can become like nightmares. Come with us to discover the dreams that Dirk Hanus found! Or look back to the collections Ferit Kuyas assembled in his Quintology, when collected or forgotten items, like the remained shoes of his ex-girlfriend, form a tableau.
The position a photographer finds with his unique personal language, aside of the subjects that he or she photographs makes the difference and makes the photographer become the author. Some of the best contemporary German samples are united in this exhibition of Contemporary German Photography.
Thomas Kellner
Installation
press
Pingyao 2014: Contemporary
German Photography
China, written by Alison Stieven-Taylor
Jutta_schmidt--freischwimmer_______-_______
No Shoes to Dance With © Ann Katharina Zeitler
International Orange © Daniel Schumann
Inner space © Dirk Habus
Freischwimme © Jutta Schmidt
Shoes © Mehmet Ferit Kuyas
Freischwimme © Jutta Schmidt
Curated by Thomas Kellner, a leading German artist in conceptual and experimental photography, this exhibition explores numerous themes and styles showing the diversity of thought and approach in contemporary photography in Germany.
In his body of work, International Orange, Daniel Schumann uses colour portraiture of couples and families to present the diversity of those living in the LGBT community in San Francisco. In Inner Space Vita Dirk Hanus uses surrealism as a representative vehicle for a discussion on the lives of the European middle class and Jutta Schmidt’s Freischwimmer takes swimming and public pools as a metaphor in questioning the potential for passiveness in Germany society.
In her series Backstage Heroes, photographer Katharina Mouratidi uses a Rococo style parlor chair as a prop to contrast the pomposity and power of the ruling class against the subjects of her portraits; the 40 laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, which are given for courageous personal commitment and social change.
Roger Eberhard’s Shanty Town Deluxe is a portrait of this luxury hotel in South Africa, which takes the concept of “shanty” and grotesquely twists it to take on the cache of luxury. No Shoes to Dance With is Anna Katharina Zeitler’s exploration of the revered, yet lonely life of the professional ballerina.
After a year living in Los Angeles Frank Rothe presents a portrait of what he sees as a city with No More Angels. Frauke Thielking’s Ready, Steady, Go focuses on the multiple spaces that humans inhabit; internally and externally. Gesche Wuerfel’s Basement Sanctuaries features a series of portraits of basement dwellings that are used by building superintendents in Manhattan, spaces that are largely decorated by the items each building’s tenants discard.And in Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About Me A Quintology of Diaries, Part 5 Ferit Kuyas expands on this series of visual diaries that use polaroids taken by the artist in the mid-nineties.
Photographers:
Daniel Schumann International Orange
Vita Dirk Hanus Inner Space
Jutta Schmidt Freischwimmer
Katharina Mouratidi Backstage Heroes – Alternative Nobel Prize Laureates
Roger Eberhard Shanty Town Deluxe
Anna Katharina Zeitler No Shoes to Dance With
Frank Rothe No More Angels
Frauke Thielking Ready, Steady, Go
Gesche Wuerfel Basement Sanctuaries
Mehmet Ferit Kuyas Everything you didn’t want to know about me: A Quintology of Diaries, Part 5
EXHIBITION
Contemporary German Photography
Curator: Thomas Kellner
Festival Pingyao 2014
September 19 - 25 2014
Pingyao, China
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