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Artist Statement
Urban Underdogs
“Being beautiful isn’t about the way you dress or the pigments you put on your face. Being beautiful simply means being yourself.” – Galileo Galilei
Due to the massive flood of information we are exposed to every day, we increasingly filter out common or fleeting impressions from our perception—especially in the (big) city. In this respect, I view my photographs as anti-filters that reveal the often-overlooked details of our everyday lives in their specific colors, lines, textures, and various stages of decay. At the heart of my work lies the desire to capture the everyday facades and objects that surround us in their unadulterated, yet fleeting, beauty.
My works celebrate in particular the “underdogs” of urban life: discarded umbrellas, decomposing newspapers, worn curtains, cracked walls, stained workshop floors… The plaster and masonry that hold our civilized world together possess a profound quality—both in terms of the service these objects render to us humans and in terms of the quiet, ever-uncomplaining dignity with which they perform their invisible daily chore.
Modus Operandi: Distillation
“Distillation is a process for separating the components or substances of a mixture in order to increase the concentration of selected components in the mixture. Distillation involves several repetitive steps that serve to remove impurities.” —Wikipedia
True to this definition, I explore familiar urban environments in search of motifs. These recurring walks serve as a “visual purification process” that gradually strips away distracting layers, eventually revealing the final motif.
The scenes captured photographically are also the result of natural processes that resemble a distillate: processes such as oxidation, abrasion, and the effects of heat and cold gradually alter the surface and texture of objects. In the course of this natural distillation, their true essence comes to light.
My works are thus snapshots of a constantly changing urban landscape.
Motivation
“These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before!” —Star Trek: The Next Generation
I draw inspiration for my photography from the joy of discovery, much like an archaeologist, astronomer, or astronaut who approaches unexplored worlds with a shovel and brush, through a telescope, or in a spaceship.
