The Traveller

The series ”The Traveller“ started in March 2010 on a tour with friends from the "Fotoclub Potsdam" when we found the old brown suitcase in a bunch of bulk waste on the street. This old suitcase and the end-of-time-feeling of the partially abandoned village where we found the suitcase fueled my imaginations of the figure of a traveller in time, who finds himself in various, sometimes odd situations. In order so serve as a connecting element in a series of pictures the traveller required a high recognition value, especially since he often appears only as a small eye-catcher. Thus I have created the archetypal and nostalgic figure of a man wearing a suit and a hat, who carries a suitcase and an umbrella. For the sake of convenience, the protagonist of the series is myself, since this model is always available. I started the series with settings in the context of travel and traffic. Yet, soon I broadened the scope of the term ”travel“ to being on the way in unusual places or through passed times. The fact that my traveller usually finds himself somehow out of place in his surrounding creates suspense. Since he always retains his composure even in bizarre situations, the picture often acquire a funny aspect that keeps the photos sticking in the mind of the viewer. As a photographer I was initially more familiar with the subjects landscape and architecture, however, with this series I found my pleasure in conceptual photo series with humans as a main element. This was also the starting point for the related project ”On The Way“ with the female photographer Uta Schönknecht. The character of the latter series is distinguished from ”The Traveller“ by its clearly recognizable actors, who refer to each other in the pictures. In ”The Traveller“ the protagonist is oft barely recognizable as an individual and often appears only as a small person. Despite of that he is always the eye-catcher and enhances the attention of the viewer for the scenery he is acting in. The individual images of the series are no consecutive sequence. Each image should tell its own story and evoke different emotions in the viewer. I took all the photos with a digital single lens reflex camera equipped with an interval timer. Between 2010 and 2013 I have shown the pictures of this series in nine well acclaimed exhibitions in Berlin, Potsdam, Munich, Rangsdorf and Neubrandenburg. At the 4th Kunstallee Potsdam (an arts fair) from August 19th till 21st, 2011, I won the Arts Price in an election of the approximately 4000 visitors. Several photos won prices in national and international photo contests. The biggest success was a Gold Medal of Excellence for ”In The Cold“ at one of the biggest international photo contests, the Trierenberg Super Circuit 2011.