Session 1
Describe three of your works/ projects for each work describe
What (200 words max) How (200 words max) Why (200 words max)
300 word description of three works = 900 words (max)
1. The land of milk and marsh
What
The Project the land of milk and marsh is an photo book about the life and the people living on a holm called Langeneß. A holm is a special kind of Island which will be flooded several times during the year. The people are living on artificially build hills called Warften to protect themselves from the water. Langeneß is the biggest holm in the world. All holms are world cultural heritage. On this special island there is no cinema, no theater, no supermarket no club or concert. There is one hotel, one school and one restaurant. The book has approximately eighty pages and the format from 20cm x 27 cm. The photos are shot in color and digital. It has an hard cover with an photograph of marsh for both sides. On the Cover there is written the Name of the Project and the author. The paper grade is extra raff and has the announce of 120 gram. The book has four different layouts to combine the pictures on the pages. The highlight in the layout are the folder for the landscape pictures. Then you have three pictures next to each other. Beside the landscape pictures there are portraits of the residents and photos about different situation or things. As introduction is an description to explain some basic informations about the holm. At the end it has a short imprint which gives informations about the book and the people who are involved to this project.
How
First I started to research about the holm Langeneß, I read some newspaper articles and watched documentation about it. I did this to get a better impression and to think about which motives could be interesting to explain the live there. I made four trips to Langeneß between eight and fifteen days. I started in February and finished at June. I went to all events, I could find to see how and what are they doing there. I made appointments to meet some residents, to take portraits of them and to talk with them. And on the other side I also walked around the island to get impressions and look for motives to shoot. Between the trips I always review the pictures and the best one (pictures that tell something about the specific place, have relevant informations look interesting in my view or portraits that I like) I printed out. The prints were are good basic to figure out the possibilities about the motives and the layout I have to create for the book. During this time I also comb through a lot of other photo books to learn how to arrange all the different aspects. I started an indesign document and tried out different layouts, sizes and typography. I discuss my work with a lot of people (teacher, photographers, classmates) to get feedback and to improve the work. After finishing the layout I made a dummy and went to a print office to talk about details that are necessary for printing. At the end I made a proof, corrected some colors and then I sent the file to the print office.
Why
I decided myself to this topic because I am general interested in the different life forms that people choose. Ten years earlier I made friendship with a boy called Matthias who is the same age as me. He grow up as the only child in his age and he says he want to live there forever. I wanted to know how it feels to live on such an isolated place. Who are the people there, what are they working, what are they doing in there free time? Are there special rues? Is there a special society. I also wanted to find out about the meaning of the people to the clime change and the result of the upcoming raising to the see level. General I find it important to document our life in that we are living. We are living in a time where everything change so quickly. Photography can be used to reflect our life and to understand how we are living.
2.Patchworkfamily
What
The Project Patchworkfamily are six pictures of different families. The prints have the size from 80 x 40 cm. The pictures are all in color and were shoot digital. The families in the pictures are in there home mostly in the living room or in the kitchen. The sit and standing together in an group. Most of them are looking direct in the camera. You can also see some details of the room, what is in the room, how does the room look like.
How
I made appointments with the families and visit they in there home. Sometimes I also spent the whole day with them. At there home I figure out where the best place is to take the pictures. Then I built up my technique and start to arrange them. I used some flashes when it was to dark. I make some breaks between the shooting, because for kids it can be hart to sit silence for a long time. Sometimes I also changed the location to have different versions at the end. I shoot every picture with the Cannon 5D Mark 3 and a 50mm lens.
Why
I wanted to explore the consensus about a Family. I think nowadays a Family is more than only to have blood-relationships to each other. There are a lot of different constellation than the classic Familie we are used to it. One example is the so called Patchworkfamilie. My motivation to deal with patchwork families is autobiographical conditioned. Moreover, I am interested in the moment of irritation in the picture: who is whose child, who is the „right“ sister, the „right“ brother. Who looks similar to whom, what is the relationship between the individuals? This moment of irritation and question should suggest the viewer to think about the own imaginations to redefine the ideas of family. What can be a family today? And is it still important who is the right blood relative?