Artist Feature

Every week an artist is featured whose single image was published by Der Greif. The Feature shows the image in the original context of the series.

The purpose of my trip to Ghana was to elaborate an idea I had about a year earlier, and which carried the working title »take a pic«. In short, the idea was to change common conceptions of Ghanaian life and to evoke a feeling of similarity between a European subject and an African object. In »African Alltag Stills«, the effect works through the change between landscape and detail shots. While the distance has an equalizing effect, leveling out details, leaving merely an interesting surface, the detail shots work to expose individuality. The detail shots lack any human object. It´s the abandoned spaces, the tools, the merchandise and unique signage telling their resident´s story. I often have the impression that people find it easier to empathize with other people´s environment and daily routines than with the people directly, which is why I chose to document empty spaces and still lifes.