Ohnmacht (“Syncope”) is the German title of my bachelor project. It contains two parts, two chapters and therefore two books. This work tries to state the journey of my personal search for meaning.
The first chapter “Saat” („Seed“) is about symbols. Symbols which stand for questions you may ask to yourself during a search for meaning, symbols which are like a spider web floating in your head and following your thoughts. In this series every picture stands for itself, the photos shown have their own atmosphere. In the book every photo has its own space where it has enough room to expand its symbolism. Every spectator is able to project their own search for meaning onto these pictures. This series does not make an approach to value something. Neither try these photos to define those questions. They should be seen more like a screen where every viewer is able to project themselves into the the images.
The second chapter “Ernte” („Harvest“) is about the interpretation of the questions you encounter on the search for meaning. These pictures tell my story of finding answers, my personal answers on the questions that are so hard to handle. This part is about personality, feelings, sexuality and depression. In this chapter (compared to the first chapter, a very different one) every picture reflects the others by changing the meaning of each other. A single photo of a naked shoulder of a girl tells something completely different than shown together with a threateningly barking dog. The meaning of these pictures changes dramatically when the context is changed. The color red is used in this chapter to change the meaning of these photos, too. Red stands for rage, death and pain, but in a different way also for affection, warmth and love. This symbol colour reinforces the individual valuation of various photos in the second chapter of “Syncope“: The context which is essential to these photos relate from person to person. People may have the same questions, but the answers to find are as different as the context you live in or as the person you are.
All the pictures are taken on film, mostly on medium format and 4x5-inch large format. “Ohnmacht/Syncope” has a limited edition of 5 artist books.
This project was nominated for the German Photobook Award 20/21 and was placed in the longlist. In the course of this award, the book project was displayed in numerous exhibitions worldwide.
