ArtMeant* Project

How did photography become part of your life? What is your story in this field?

I worked in an office as an HR employee until I was about 40 years old. I was always creative, be it with photography or drawing. I was no longer happy in my job and I decided to apply to an art school. I quickly realised that photography was my preferred means of expression and I applied to the F+F School of Art and Design in Zurich. There I completed a 3-year degree in Communication Design HF specialising in photography and have been a freelance photographer since 2018.

Photography has been with me since I was a child. My father loved taking photos and my grandmother, who painted herself, taught me how to create images with a camera. I am particularly interested in working with people, portraying them or realising a concept photographically. Fashion photography is also a passion of mine because it opens up great creative possibilities and you can tell a story and create dream landscapes.

Does every work have to tell a story?

Isn’t it in the nature of a photograph to tell a story? A photograph is the capture of a moment. This usually means that something has happened before and after. That already tells a story, doesn’t it? So my answer is: yes. A work always tells a story, whether intentionally or not.

Can you tell us about your process of planning and preparing for a piece?

Someone has an idea. We talk about it. We start planning, looking for locations, models, props. I think about what light I want to use and what style I want to adopt. We set a date and off we go. That’s how the job works.

When it comes to the creative process in and of itself: that’s different. Either someone approaches me with an idea and then I think and research until the concept is finalised but I never work stringently on a concept, it’s usually a rough concept. There has to be room for spontaneous ideas. But I try to stick to the plan.

I get ideas from reading, exhibitions, films/series and music, conversations with people or from my own experiences. Sometimes I have a pretty clear picture in my mind’s eye of what the photograph should look like in the end. Sometimes I start fiddling around and the work emerges as a process.

However, the portraits of the work „She’s a Queen, her soul is royalty“ in the ‘Her Story’ exhibition at Galerie Sechs came about by chance. A stylist and designer friend of mine, Stephanie Klaproth, was doing an internship in the costume department at Basel Theatre at the time and we came up with the idea for the portraits using baroque costumes that we were allowed to borrow there. And that’s how the work came about.

You’ve been working with Galerie Sechs for some time now. Could you share your experiences from the “Her Story” exhibition?

This is my second participation in a group exhibition at Galerie Sechs and I find the collaboration very collegial and supportive. I am on a sabbatical this year but I was still able to participate in two exhibitions, the last time I was also at the Artist Talk – just online. The team at Galerie Sechs works very professionally and with so much passion and I hope to be able to take part in more exhibitions.

What are your current and upcoming projects?

As I said, I am currently in a sabbatical. At the moment, At the moment, I’m really focussing on the topic of sleeping and dreaming. Let’s see what comes of it. And I would love to do another series of pure black and white portraits.