RAUHNACHT
10 Jan, 2023
When I was 21 I almost developed a depression, it was after the death of my lover. I lay in bed for half a year, could hardly get up, had nightmares every night. I was able to overcome it, but now, decades later, these episodes return to me from time to time.Winter is hard. I live in a small town in the North, the cold creeps through the cracks into the old house, which I rarely leave. Who crawls out of his hole and sneaks around in front of my door at night? Wild animals? Hairy demons? Evil spirits? I make up stories and find joy in them, my dreams are wild and colourful. But sometimes I wake up and can hardly breathe or swallow, I have a big lump in my throat. RAUHNACHT is a series of 58 pictures about my winter depression and my life in a hostile and maybe dangerous environment. All photos are snapshots, not staged, taken in the winters from 2017 to 2022.
I am a German photobook lover and collector, a graphic designer and self-taught photographer, working with snapshot photographs and archival material, transferring my dreams, longings and fears into books. During the last years I self-published 25 books and zines in mini editions. My work has been shown in group exhibitions and at international photobook festivals. SOMMERSPIELE, a book I made last year, is shortlisted for the Kassel Dummy Award 2022 and currently on exhibition tour.