I see photography as an instrument that suggests a mirror of the world, a fiction, a real dream that opens up further spaces. As a model-like record of a microscopically tiny section of the world and cosmos, photography shifts the scales of my perception. I work with image collections, either with found ones or with my own images. In a process of re-using, re-photographing, copying, or shifts of contexts, I create modulations from fragments of the everyday.

Seemingly self-evident realities open up to magic and mystery, to the unknown. I use images to show a fragile balance between realities. I am interested in border zones.
The world I see is a part of myself, I explore, I question, I become aware of. Seeing is a constant process of transformation within social and cultural spaces and practices. The question is not what I see, but what I perceive beyond the obvious.

What role does publishing play in your artistic practice and in particular in your work Echo ohne Ortsangabe and Cut #1?

The book is a paradox within systems between the art and book worlds and thus exciting and thus generating questions, provoking discourse. How do I read, how do I contemplate images? A book for me is both site-specific as independent work for the book/space and also image/work for an exhibition situation. In a work, I simultaneously discuss both, content and the book as a medium.

Echo ohne Ortsangabe (2017) is about forms of emptiness, of uncertainty. How do we remember? Images sometimes appear split on a double-page. They form new connections by scrolling. I ask, the images do not answer, they are my echo.
The main topic in CUT #1 (2016) is the cutting and the associated blank spaces. The “missing link” of the montages is formed by traces of images created by the translucent paper. Like shadows, they become part of a new constellation.
I like to compare a book with an image that is composed of fragments and textures with intervals. I see it as a space to combine heterogeneous aspects in the sense of intertextuality. A book formulates itself from its visuality and tactile qualities.

What are you working on at the moment?

COVID_19 changes our life on the planet. It changes forms of communication on many levels, also in my artistic work. Questions about uncertainties, fragility, transparency, misrepresentation, and fake, as well as questions about platforms of artistic discourse, presenting books and works are in a process of transformation. There are two major themes that have fascinated me for a long time, which I am currently taking up and looking at again: this is ‘the archive’ and ‘the studio’, both places of inspiration and encounter, interfaces between public and private.

To get a closer view inside Heidemarie von Wedel’s work visit her website under www.oliverleu.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Oliver Leu

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Stuttgart – Interview with Heidemarie von Wedel erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

I like to work with a medium which by essence registers fragments of the ‘real’ world in order to create a new alternate reality. I see my images as ‘real and absolutely unreal at the same time‘, it is a sort of paradox I like to play with.

What role does publishing play in your photographic practice and in particular in your work Ce qu’il reste?

I love the idea that my work can circulate anywhere in the world, without any restriction in time or space. Publishing my work as a book makes it more accessible and the relationship of the viewer to it is completely different from what it would be in a show. I love taking photo books in my hands, feel their texture; it is an experience that has something very intimate. The distance often imposed in a show (do not cross, do not touch the artworks…) disappears completely.

For me, a book also allows to tell a story that is more complete, because there is room for a different kind of images. Next to what I would call the ‘pillar’ images – the strongest from a series which deserve to be presented in a larger format – there is another sort of pictures that I might not show in an exhibition, while in a book they suddenly get an important role in telling the story. To me, those kind of images are very important in their coexistence with others and in this way, the book almost becomes like a protected environment for them.

What are you working on at the moment?

My latest project spontaneously emerged from the lockdown. I had the chance to spend the confinement on an island on the outskirts of Berlin. With the arrival of spring, I have observed the transformations of nature like never before. I started to collect my impressions in a new project called refuge.

To get a closer view inside Bénédicte Blondeau’s work visit her website under www.benedicteblondeau.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Bénédicte Blondeau

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Berlin – Interview with Bénédicte Blondeau erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

In general, I am interested in photography and images for their ability to communicate. Images are a very present element in contemporary society, they are constantly consumed and created and (as happens with any human act or behavior) they generate communication. A communication based on the combination of images gives rise to visual narratives.

It is a communication in which there is no established vocabulary. A communication that can be divided into two parts: On the one hand the factual part — that is, what images provide us with on a documentary level and, on the other hand, the symbolic, aesthetic or subjective part, that photographs are capable to generate. My relationship with photography has gone through several stages: journalism, portraits, interiors or teaching. Now, I am interested in investigating visual narratives and how they are applied in today’s society.

What role does publishing play in your photographic practice and in particular in your work PARAiSO?

I think that the visual narratives applied to photo books are a very interesting way to deepen and continue analyzing the possibilities offered by the photographic medium.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on several projects at the same time. I don’t know which one I’m going to finish first. I like doing it like this. My personal work advances as a motivation, not as an obligation. That’s what commercial work is for. I like to feel free with what I do, experiment and then analyze.

To get a closer view inside Dani Cardona’s work, visit his website under www.danicardona.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Dani Cardona

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Esporles — Interview with Dani Cardona erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

In the past, I have often used photography as a medium to tell stories. A few years ago I started searching for other media to make work and my relationship with photography changed a little. I still like photos, but the layers in an image are more important than they used to be. A photo can tell one story or contain different storylines, you can read an image in different ways. I think the strength of an image lies in the fact that it gives the reader and maker the possibility to make his or her own story out of it.

Still, an image has a manipulative side. In some circumstances, the picture will choose his own way, in others not…
Photography means selecting, setting priorities. This photographic process allows me to distinguish the necessity of the banality within a story. As a photographer, you frame and compose your image and you decide what you show and in which order/context you show it. Although, I realise that editing only controls and does not imply absolute truth. This is for me one of the beauties and the strength of the photographic medium.

What role does publishing play in your photographic practice and in particular in your work Forain, Kaffers en Boerin?

My latest photographic work is Forain, Kaffers en Boerin. For me, this work needed a book form to exist. I worked a lot with audio recordings during the making of this book. But it became a real photo book after all. It also became a time document, which, I think, is a very nice side effect of photography in combination with a book.

Another great thing about a photo book is that it continues to exist. It is not removed from walls after an exhibition, it is not possible to erase it, it can be viewed several times with no time limit… it becomes part of someone’s interior, someone’s life. Whether it is in the attic or between other books in a library. It continues to exist.

What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I’m starting a project about my experiences with physical vision. Probably photography will be part of it, although I don’t mind her absence.

To get a closer view inside Siska Vandecasteele’s work visit her website under www.siskavandecasteele.be

malenki.net features the following publications by Siska Vandecasteele

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Antwerp — Interview with Siska Vandecasteele erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

Photography for me is when the factual can meet the fictional, when the imagined reaches the actual.

What role does publishing play in your artistic practice and in particular in your work Horsehead Nebula and Tidal Horizon?

My books Horsehead Nebula and Tidal Horizon are the sums of the efforts made to tie a work together. A book conveys best what I produce: The combination of images and texts, as well as the format and the characteristics of a book contribute to let the viewer immerse in the work created. I also like the democratic aspect of the book: nearly anyone can see, touch or have it.

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I’m working on my project Oasis in the framework of the Somfy Photography Award at the Nederlands Fotomuseum. I explore the poetic and the factual aspects of a territory near Liège, Belgium that is under threat of unplanned building. Sadly enough, these kinds of areas are sometimes still seen as ‘negative’ or wasted space by planners and promoters (because of their unprofitability).

I want to investigate how built and unbuilt environments are combined and why these spaces are important. The land is being more and more covered with concrete. It is important for me to sensitize people and politicians to the positive aspects of these areas in order to think about a collective way of designing the spaces we live in.

To get a closer view inside Matthieu Litt’s work visit his website under www.matthieulitt.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Matthieu Litt

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Liège — Interview with Matthieu Litt erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

Photography starts from reality, but it doesn’t necessarily show the truth. You can capture things and moments with a photographic apparatus which would never be visible to the naked eye. Time is an important aspect in photography, and you can stretch that time by using a slow shutter speed to expose things that are otherwise imperceptible. I like to explore perception, create images which aren’t really there. The act of creating an image is important, and the mixture of controlling all technical aspects and embracing chance at the same time. My interest is shifting more and more towards experiment and photography which explores the medium itself.

What role does publishing play in your artistic practice and in particular in your work Antrum?

An artist book is a portable, mobile exhibition that can live a life of its own. It is also a nice way to share your work. A book is the best form to show the old Lourdes grottos of Antrum. It has a certain narrative. It allowed me to mix my own images with old images by anonymous photographers, and for the first time I used text. Since it was my first book, it was a whole different medium, with endless possibilities, and a lot of decisions to make.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on two projects: Space, reflected is an attempt to evoke the idea of three dimensionality on the flat surface of a photograph. By using and manipulating elements inherent to the medium like light, shadow, reflection and colour, I aim to create another sense of space. For my other project I am experimenting in the darkroom making photograms.

Until now only in Black and White, but I really want to work with colour paper soon. Meanwhile I am examining different tactile papers and ways of folding for an edition I am working on. It shows a photogram which I scanned and colored. I want to present it as a folded poster with a sculptural quality.

To get a closer view inside Rio Staelens’ work visit her website under www.riostaelens.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Rio Staelens

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Antwerp — Interview with Rio Staelens erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

I tend to see art as a language, as a way of ‘thinking in images’. As someone working, teaching in the arts, I am interested in paintings and installations, books and theatre and … photography. Even observing people in real life or getting the thrill of a ‘genius loci’ works for me as food for the mind. However, when I start making something, I will always fall back on photography. It is what I see and feel. It’s a language I can speak and hopefully … with some eloquence.

In photography I like the finesse of observation, the play with light and time, the meticulous build-up and composition. I like the ‘gap’ ,the ‘leap of faith’ if you want, that occurs between ‘taking the picture’ and the resulting image. A slice of time and space stolen from oblivion. So I work with photography because it is the medium I understand and master. That being said, I do combine photography with some of the objects present in the photograph in order to make installations. The bricolage, the unbalance, the immanent fiasco are all part of the modus operandi here. So I like to be at the steering wheel and lose control.

What role does publishing play in your artistic practice and in particular in your work D R A T E R ?

I did not do a lot of publishing until now. It is something I definitely should expand. D R A T E R was a publication coinciding with an exhibition. For me, it’s an exhibition in it’s own right. I have to admit the use of the graphic possibilities in the publication was rather modest. Which I like. A way of showing photographs really. I’m preparing a more ambitious publication, an artistic venue in its own right, with the typographer Stephane Deschrevel at this moment. De Maat der Dingen will be a cross-section of my work Leçons de Choses.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a series of what you could describe as still-lifes. Combining installation and photography. I pick up rubbish from the street or from my own ‘housecollection’. Then I make installations as a set-up for photography. They involve shakystacking, things in an unstable balance, just before the tipping point of collapse. Kept together with glue, threads, counterweights, tape and rope. The constructions remind the viewer of themes which are hard to pinpoint: a suit of armor maybe? Stones seem to crawl onto a printing block. Are we witnessing the return of the stone age? The come-back of the antenna? Perhaps in this work, mold is beating gold. Again here it’s about the gap, about how the mind bends itself, invents new significance, works out associations. The things in the picture change status, alter weight and modify meaning in the interplay of objects, forms, perspective and light. Thematically what seems to pop-upin all my work is the cycle of building and an inevitable collapse.

Facing the projections of a bright technological future, that surround us, I want to represent the failing, searching and stumbling man. The bungler who keeps things going with spit and baling wire. Exactly….. the whole lot of us, even those who see themselves as the captains of the future. So the work combines radicality with a tinge of lucid humour. Thus I give expression to my own fears and uncertainties, meanwhile reflecting about the assumptions our society is permeated with.

To get a closer view inside Willem Vermoere’s work visit his website under www.willem-vermoere.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Willem Vermoere

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Ghent — Interview with Willem Vermoere erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

I have an intense relationship with photography. There are days I just love its history, current identity and its future. Most of the days I find it a challenge to find my connection to it, this is also its quality. Photography has so many varieties, in my practice I render different aspects of the medium. The medium is stretched into zones it wasn’t foreseen to end up. You can look at it in a positive way and think it gives a lot of power to the medium or you can say that it is jaded. Photography started as a slow medium but it’s becoming the most rejected medium which we immediately swipe away after we have consumed it. Because of the lack or the amounts of identities, I feel I can push it into unknown zones. My photographic practice is intertwined with strategies used in drawing and painting. Nevertheless, it always becomes a photograph.

What role does publishing play in your practice and in particular in your work Seeing a rainbow (through a window that isn’t there) and FUNGI ?

The camera, material, (print-)technique, size and installation have always been important in my practice. I only start to realize what I’m working with if I touch, interact and feel the physical photographic image. Publishing and editing is one of those actions. Seeing a rainbow and FUNGI have been book projects from the beginning on.

Publishing is also a space where I and my work can interact with words. I never chose to have a theoretical text accompanying my publications, in Seeing a rainbow there are seven e-mail conversations published on the theme of beauty. With FUNGI, Hannah De Meyer wrote a text/story starting from my images. It blends in perfectly with the design of Ine Meganck & Chloé D’hauwe and references another book by the same author.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a project called The Natural Contract. Here I focus on mark trees (Grenzbäume). These are planted species in the landscape according to agreements between countries, town halls, provinces, landlords, … and mark an individual or communal boundary or change. In recent time the tree has become part of the landscape and lost its code and symbolic value. A tree becomes a dot on a map, a reference. With a changing environment and shifting landscape, these trees move from being cultural-historical bearers to non-information in a panorama. They fade again into the invisibility.

To get a closer view inside Dries Segers’ work visit his website under www.driessegers.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Dries Segers

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Brussels — Interview with Dries Segers erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

Deep down I am interested in storytelling. I am driven by unearthing micro-histories and the discovery of elements that link series of events that initially seem fragmented. Photography for me is a way visualising the narratives that present themselves to me in my research. These visual narratives are constructed by interweaving my own contemporary imagery with archive and research materials. The visual fragmentation this approach presents reflects the complex narratives I wish to convey.

What role does publishing play in your photographic / artistic practice and in particular in your work A Farewell to Arms and Between Spaces?

When I’m wrapping up a project, I tend to see if it works as a book first. The decisions I make during the process are sometimes mirrored in exhibitions and online presentations.
Publishing gives you the opportunity to share your work with a wider audience. A book is also an object that the viewer can come back to time and time again, which affords the artist the freedom to produce work that requires time to digest. I find the process of putting a book together very satisfying, this probably links back to my desire of being a storyteller.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am currently working on a book edit for my latest project called The Clearing House, which is an investigation into KGB activity in Ireland at the end of the Cold War. With this work I am also testing myself with another form of storytelling and developing a performative lecture. I am at the beginning of a new project with research on the different methods of control implemented by governments and institutions throughout history.

To get a closer view inside Garry Loughlin’s work visit his website under www.garryloughlin.com

malenki.net features the following publications by Garry Loughlin

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Bristol — Interview with Garry Loughlin erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

photography talks without words. it helps, sometimes. photography captures what surrounds us in a different way. I guess this is why I use both, words and images, as they come to me, depending on their own necessity, or mine. Using analog photography, working with an old Leicaflex or Pentax, or Super-8 camera, is not only a way to keep track with materiality or preserving memory, it’s also to continue to work with the possibility of the accident, which is keeping the medium alive, may be changing this accident into a miracle, may be let the accident talk and express something on its own. I look through the lens, I press the button, I “take” the image but what comes out belongs to another reality, that’s the part of magic still contained in photography, what photography reveals of your own looks, makes you see things you did not know you saw. it could be frightening sometimes. but that’s what revealing is about : it makes you see. and then you have to decide what to do with it : leave it alone ? show it ? print it ? associate it with words ? with other images ? in any case, freed from you, the photo you took will tell it’s own story.

What role does publishing play in your artistic practice and in particular in your work afto?

it’s essential. a book, a publication, gives the possibility for words or images to live a life for themselves. nothing does it better. choosing a paper, a format, a printing technique, is obviously part of the process too. I love riso for small scale projects.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on two photo projects that could become books, one is called “shelter” and the other one is called “North America backwards”. and I am struggling with a long term project called “peripou” which involves photo, super 8 and mainly writing, with a biologist (questioning memory and bees, but not only).

For a closer look on Anne Penders‘ work please visit her website www.annependers.net

malenki.net features the following publications by Anne Penders

Der Beitrag Meanwhile in Brussels — Interview with Anne Penders erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.