Gegenstücke / Counter-Parts
Silver Gelatin prints on ceramic tiles
Gegenstücke” / “counter-parts” is a series of handmade street photographs printed on ceramic tiles using liquid emulsion. The images show details or close ups of persons I met on the street. I talked to most of them first, but sometimes I didn’t ask for their permission to take a photograph of their hands or belongings.
When I take a picture it may sometimes stay on my mind until I will find its counterpart. This can take only minutes but sometimes weeks or a month. When the images are juxtaposed they connect to each other by possible causal relationships, their visual similarities or also by the virtual appearance of interpersonal relationships. I like to use photography to unite two persons, things or ideas that would otherwise seem reluctant in the first place. The material carrying the image reveals itself through its flaws and imperfections. When they occur in the right place, they add to the expression of the image connecting its outside with the inside or the medium to the message. Working with this technique also means that each print will be a unique original that cannot be reproduced or repeated in exactly the same way.
The Project was shown in 2011 during the exhibition “Handmade” at the Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna.