| | | |  | | | | Soma 020 © Andreas Gefeller, Courtesy Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Köln | | | | Saison Photographique 2019/2020 | "Still Light" | OUTDOOR | | | | | | | 27 September 2019 ‐ 25 September 2020 | | | | | | | 27 September 2019 ‐ 25 September 2020 | | | | | | | 17 September 2019 – 16 September 2020 | | |  | | | | | | | | | | Titled "Still Light", this photographic season invites the viewer on a meditative journey. When our thoughts get lost in abstraction, or we lack the distance necessary to analyse what's before us, it is generally recommended to wait for dawn. The bright light allows us to distinguish and separate the elements, and though the advice is to "sleep on it", it is the light of day that guides our thoughts clearly, because it shows us things as they really are.
The night brings shadows, blurring our tracks and swallowing entire paths. There is only one sublime force which can overcome the shadow world: light. If one exists, so does the other. The chiaroscuro forms a cohesive, inseparable entity. Even if the two forces are allegedly at war in the religious and spiritual context, art manages to show them in wondrous union: it is only the interplay of light and shadow that allows the world to appear before us in full relief. Isolated and without its counterpart, light reveals nothing, dazzled by its own brightness. The same goes for the night, which is blinded by darkness without its opposite. When humans interfere in this fragile cosmic balance, these worlds become entangled and distorted into grotesqueness. What is light all about? What defines its quality and what effects does it have on the universe? Human-created light remains an artifice. Where does this take us? Should we not reconsider the night, based on a new perception of light? PHOTOGRAPHERS : PART I - François Fontaine, Andreas Gefeller, Anna Lehmann-Brauns
Text: A. Meyer / Clervaux – cité de l’image, English translation by Nadia Linden | | |
| | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Soma 004 © Andreas Gefeller, Courtesy Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Köln | | | | | | | 27 September 2019 - 25 September 2020 | | | "A brave new world". The work of Andreas Gefeller shows parallels to Aldous Huxley’s novel. This also explains the title of the collection of photographs: “Soma”, the name of the drug which is meant to alter and make reality bearable in Huxley’s literary universe.
The photographic work "Soma" by the German photographer offers insights into an artificial, single purpose microcosm from the year 2000, showcasing itself under bright, artificial lighting. This world was entirely created by man. Night is arbitrarily turned into day. Indeed, the former appears to literally outshine the latter.
The photographs show a coastal strip of Gran Canaria bathed in light, despite being nocturnal views. A newly constructed, brightly illuminated holiday paradise is presented as a complete work of art – made up of repetitive structures and geometric shapes – baring itself under a deep night sky. | | | | | |  | | | | exhibition view Andreas Gefeller © CDI 2019 | | | | | | Under the glaring light, the facades create a surreal scenery and reveal a highly graphic structure, with the contours and sharp edges of every motive standing out. The images were taken using long exposures.
Palm trees and cacti are lined up to create an overly decorative scene that generates unease. Beach promenades with sun loungers are devoid of human presence. The excessive light is in direct contrast with the tidy, abandoned places. The artificial lighting occupies large planes of the image, pushing the shadows to the margins.
What remains is a numbing brightness and emptiness.
(Text: A. Meyer / Clervaux – cité de l’image, English translation by Nadia Linden) | | | | | |  | | | | exhibition view Andreas Gefeller © CDI 2019 | | | | | | Andreas Gefeller was born in 1970 in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2000, he graduated in photography at the University of Essen with honors from Prof. Bernhard Prinz. In 2001, he was appointed to the DFA (Deutsche Fotografische Akademie / German Academy of Photography). He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
More information: www.andreasgefeller.com | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Dart, Berlin, DEAF 2008 © Anna Lehmann-Brauns | | | | | | | 27 September 2019 ‐ 25 September 2020 | | | Anna Lehmann-Brauns photographs rooms and architectures. She does not consider herself to be an architecture photographer, however, and denies doing documentary work.
Born and based in Berlin, she sees her role as much more akin to that of a director of photography. Just like in film, she creates visual worlds by using light and shadow. Choosing her position carefully, she combines perspectives with subjective, spatial ideas, based on moods and memories.
These are quiet compositions, emphasizing shadows just as much as the lighting conditions they arise from. It is not hard to draw a parallel to the still life of fine art: devoid of human presence, these rooms show only inanimate objects, elements and things silently populating the room. | | | | | |  | | | | Barney’s, Julia - Wege zum Glück, FILMSETS 2008 © Anna Lehmann-Brauns | | | | | | The soft light often stands in contrast with the content depicted. The photographer takes the viewer into nocturnal and urban decors – cinemas, nightclubs, hotels, film sets. Dynamic, noisy places full of history and movement. Contrasts converge: the darkness of the night competing with the artificial lighting. The clash of these two phenomena defines the work of Anna Lehmann-Brauns. Both worlds flow into each other like a viscous and dull mist, smudging the boundaries of reality.
"Sun in an Empty Room" is not only the name of an image collection, but also a quote, recalling Edward Hopper. The great master was adept at using light and shadow to transfer a sculptural space onto the flat canvas, without losing any of the depth of his motives. The result were chromatic moods which fully integrate into the era whose characteristics they reflect.
The work of Anna Lehmann-Brauns functions in a similar way: light penetrates into and out of the dark room and reveals contemporary scenes with individual character. Softly and silently, the shadows escape into the night. (Text: A. Meyer / Clervaux – cité de l’image, English translation by Nadia Linden) | | | | | |  | | | | exhibition view Anna Lehmann-Brauns © CDI 2019 | | | | | | | Anna Lehmann-Brauns was born in Berlin. As a graduate of the master class of Joachim Brohm in Leipzig, her studies include graphics and book art. The photographer specializes in architecture and interiors. Her main interest is the lighting conditions of these spaces, which she always depicts deserted and thus vulnerable to memories and projections of the viewer. She lives and works in Berlin.www.annalehmannbrauns.de | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Cosmos © François Fontaine / Agence VU’ | | | | | | | 17 September 2019 – 16 September 2020 | | | To enter the pictorial world of François Fontaine, there is no way around the Big Screen and film. Cinematography works with a collection of animated images, whereas its cousin photography is based on the static image. But both media rely on a common source: light.
Light fuels the universe. It braves this deep and anonymous space with its creative force. The look to the stars arises from every man’s desire to discover the origin of all existence. Light offers an opening into this infinite unknown. It guides our gaze into the other world. Neither darkness nor light dominate in space. | | | | | |  | | | | Cosmos © François Fontaine / Agence VU’ | | | | | | The quest for light is an adventure, driving our thoughts and our imagination. It takes us on a spiritual journey, seemingly dissolving the limits of our existence. Paradoxically, this experience tends to affirm us in our individuality.
This sublime sensation can be found in the blurred images of François Fontaine, expressing his artistic reflections.
Text: A. Meyer / Clervaux – cité de l’image, English translation by Nadia Linden | | | | | |  | | | | exhibition view François Fontaine © CDI | | | | | | François Fontaine born in Paris, France, in 1968, holds a doctorate in the History of Art. For ten years he has been exploring the theme of individual and collective memory drawn from films and paintings. His images, hypnotic and timeless, based on films – fiction and documentary -projected on a screen, are an invitation to inner iconic journeys.
More information: www.francoisfontaine.com | | | | | | unsubscribe here
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© 8 Oct 2019 photo-index UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
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