Lost in Metropolis

Michael Spengler's series "Lost in Metropolis" visualizes changes of our time - uncertainty and loss of orientation, adaptation and reorientation. Spengler finds his motifs in cityscapes and urban architecture. Targeted multiple exposures lead to an alienation of the motif that radically changes the viewer's habitual perception. Spengler shows images of reality, but the viewer cannot reconcile them with his image of reality. The viewer lacks a point of reference and finds himself in a world that is surreal to him. He can make out parts of a reality he is familiar with and still recognize an order in the apparent chaos, but he cannot put them together into a familiar overall picture. The viewer is forced to use his sensory stimuli and his memory to create a new construction. A new perception is created that also differs significantly from the perception of other individuals. The images were created using a 1952 medium format viewfinder camera on black and white roll film. The negatives were scanned, digitally retouched and colored.