Artist Blog
Every week an artist whose single image was published by Der Greif is given a platform in which to blog about contemporary photography.
1/9 A Collection of Troy Charles, found on the Internet; I Can Be Her, 2015
2/9 The Envelope I received in my Mailbox from Troy; I Can Be Her, 2015
3/9 An Indication; I Can Be Her, 2015
4/9 As it may be; I Can Be Her, 2015
5/9 Letter from Troy; I Can Be Her, 2015
6/9 Can I be Her?; I Can Be Her, 2015
7/9 House of Troy via Google Street View; I Can Be Her, 2015
8/9 Carnal Pleasure; I Can Be Her, 2015
9/9 On the Trail of Troy II; I Can Be Her, 2015
I Can Be Her – Stefanie Moshammer
Feb 02, 2016 - Stefanie Moshammer
Did you ever receive a love letter of a stranger? Well, I did. After already staying in Vegas for 1 1/2 months – experiencing all kind of craziness, meeting the weirdest and also most exciting people, being in jail, and seeing the worst and the best of this city – this letter landed in my mailbox. It was like the tip of the iceberg. It was March 2014 when the letter landed in my mailbox while I lived in Las Vegas. I just ate lunch in the house I stayed, it was one of these classic American houses with a window front and a porch, so you were able to look on the street. I saw an orange car passing by, one of this pick up trucks with huge wheels. The car drove by slowly and the guy looked around, afterwards he parked next to the house. I didn't really see him walking up to the door but he was the one who rang the bell. I opened the door and there was this stranger standing in front of me. He had like a Redneck-Style going on, with his denim jacket, denim trousers, red-headed and his eyes were looking at me like "What the hell are you doing here?" Anyway, he told me he is looking for a woman who is supposed to live in this house. No clue what he talked about so I tried to explain him that he must be wrong. He asked some more questions, I replied some more answers, he left, came again after 5 minutes; making sure I'm still there and actually not the women he was looking for. Long story short: One week later I received a letter of Troy where he basically offered me to live with him – he wanted to be my ticket to USA citizenship. One of my favourite sentences of the letter: "If you came to live with me I would buy you your own cute, special fast car thats almost new, so you feel special and appreciated." Instead of making use of this irreversible offer, I started searching for evidence and indications of Troy without ever getting in touch with him. After receiving the letter I was paranoid, thinking Troy can be around any corner watching me. The series represents past, present and future, covered by layers of dreams, feelings and obsessions. By reproducing ideas inspired by the letter, I captured discoveries made along the way. Troy created his own perception of me; as a result of his letter I created my own perception of him. The images above are only a selection of the series. It hasn't been shown before and will be exhibited in France / Montpellier in April and May for the first time. This was my last post for Der Greif / Guest-Blog. I hope you enjoyed! See you, Stefanie www.stefaniemoshammer.com @stefanie_moshammer