With the illusion on the high seas
The first impression of Transatlantic might be that of a travelogue from the 1930s - the glorious days of the ocean liners. But at second glance, Transatlantic shows only an illusion of all this. All the pictures were made within a week in 2022, on board of the Queen Mary 2. Tom Klein portrayed over a hundred passengers of this historic crossing, including a Big Band, playing the tunes of the 1920s and 30s. Some of these pictures even reveal that they are shot in the 21st century.
In a timeless space, where time is no longer linear, Tom Klein gives the viewer the opportunity to escape their world for a moment. He offers an alternative to the concept of “being born in the wrong time”, and shows how to experience the romanticized parts of history today, without entirely idealizing the past. Besides the vintage attire, Tom Klein uses authentic cameras from the era in order to create the nearly perfect illusion, which purposefully betrays itself. Transatlantic is a story about the fascination of the ocean liners and life on board, about the parties and games but also about the mysterious and sometimes dark unknown of the Atlantic Ocean. (J-L Caspers)