Past Perfect
With how many people we can maintain stable social relationships? The British anthropologist Robin Dunbar researched this question in the 1990s. He found that relationships with other people are usually limited to around 150. To this initial estimate, which became known as the "Dunbar number", he later added a rough model of concentric circles, each of which stands for qualitatively different types of relationships (see DUNBAR, Robin 2022: Friends: Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships. Little Brown and Co., UK). According to this model the innermost circle usually includes about 5 people, our closest relationships and friendships. That’s followed by successive layers of 15 (good friends), 50 (friends) and 150 (meaningful contacts).
My own circle of friends and acquaintances includes around 40 people. With Dunbar's model in mind, I came up with the following photographic experiment: As soon as I met someone from my friends or acquaintances (not including family members and colleagues), I asked her or him spontaneously for a portrait, preferentially a bust portrait against a neutral background from a distance of about one meter. I chose the year 2023 as time reference. At the end of the year a total of 30 portraits had been taken, 10 fewer than my list of contacts. So I didn't manage to see them all at least once during this year. Surprising, because we live in an age of communication and mobility, which obviously doesn't mean that people meet face to face.
My own circle of friends and acquaintances includes around 40 people. With Dunbar's model in mind, I came up with the following photographic experiment: As soon as I met someone from my friends or acquaintances (not including family members and colleagues), I asked her or him spontaneously for a portrait, preferentially a bust portrait against a neutral background from a distance of about one meter. I chose the year 2023 as time reference. At the end of the year a total of 30 portraits had been taken, 10 fewer than my list of contacts. So I didn't manage to see them all at least once during this year. Surprising, because we live in an age of communication and mobility, which obviously doesn't mean that people meet face to face.
All 30 portraits can be found in this catalog. They were all photographed with an old Agfa Isola from the 1950s, a cheap camera with a plastic body and very basic equipment. I did not ask my models to stand still, as it would have been advisable with respect to the fixed shutter speed of 1/30 second. On the contrary I asked them to move freely. For this reason, most of the images are motion-blurred. However, the blur isn't a mistake - it is intentional! Each of these portraits represent an elusive moment, a note in a diary. The blur swallows some information, such as most age features, which makes older people look younger. At the same time, the images show the trace of a movement, emphasizing the individual facial expression that might not be seen in a posed portrait.
Original photographs are printed analogue on traditional gelatine silver fibre-based baryte paper.
Title: Past Perfect
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-9823277-3-0
Type: Softcover
68 pages
21 × 21 cm; 8,3 × 8,3 inches approx.
Edition size: 50 numbered copies
Type of printing: Inkjet
Price: 38 EUR + shipping
Past Perfect is available at:
Libraries:
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-9823277-3-0
Type: Softcover
68 pages
21 × 21 cm; 8,3 × 8,3 inches approx.
Edition size: 50 numbered copies
Type of printing: Inkjet
Price: 38 EUR + shipping
Past Perfect is available at:
Libraries:
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Passers-by
Family, colleagues, neighbours - people with whom we are in daily contact, their faces, their gestures are familiar to us. At the same time, we constantly meet people we are unfamiliar with. They come and go, pass by without being noticed. Occasionally our gaze gets stuck for a short moment on a person, a human being, for whatever reason. To capture some of these elusive moments is the intention of this book.
The portraits depicted in the book are mainly made on the road during various journeys, where people seem even stranger, which they may not be at all. The pictures were all photographed from a few meters distance. So I had to approach the people I was looking at, talk to them and ask them for their permission to take a photo.
Some people are embarrassed first, others amused or flattered, but surprisingly, most people immediately agreed and sometimes a conversation developed along the way. Occasionally I have learned more than is usually confided to a stranger. Such confidences and everything I have learned in this context shall not be passed on here. There is only the picture, a portrait, from which the viewer is able to read something or not.
Most of the people whose portraits are shown in this book I have never seen again or had contact with. They were all fleeting encounters. All people depicted in this book agreed to be photographed.
The portraits depicted in the book are mainly made on the road during various journeys, where people seem even stranger, which they may not be at all. The pictures were all photographed from a few meters distance. So I had to approach the people I was looking at, talk to them and ask them for their permission to take a photo.
Some people are embarrassed first, others amused or flattered, but surprisingly, most people immediately agreed and sometimes a conversation developed along the way. Occasionally I have learned more than is usually confided to a stranger. Such confidences and everything I have learned in this context shall not be passed on here. There is only the picture, a portrait, from which the viewer is able to read something or not.
Most of the people whose portraits are shown in this book I have never seen again or had contact with. They were all fleeting encounters. All people depicted in this book agreed to be photographed.
Original photographs are printed analogue on traditional gelatine silver fibre-based baryte paper.
Title: Passers-by
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-00-062967-9
Type: Hardcover
84 pages
15 × 15 cm; 5,8 × 5,8 inches approx.
Edition size: 200 numbered copies
Type of printing: offset duotone
Price: 25 EUR + shipping
Passers-by is available at:
Bookstores:
Bücherbogen am Savignyplatz, Stadtbahnbogen 593, 10623 Berlin
Libraries:
Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-00-062967-9
Type: Hardcover
84 pages
15 × 15 cm; 5,8 × 5,8 inches approx.
Edition size: 200 numbered copies
Type of printing: offset duotone
Price: 25 EUR + shipping
Passers-by is available at:
Bookstores:
Bücherbogen am Savignyplatz, Stadtbahnbogen 593, 10623 Berlin
Libraries:
Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Sensible Heat
Selected from an ongoing series »Sensible Heat« comprises 33 straight black and white portraits photographed open-air at different youth hangouts, frequently on occasion of the »Urban Syndromes« Hip-Hop festival hosted year by year in Dresden - the hometown of the photographer. The festival attracts a lot of people from all over Europe and overseas. However, not all of the sitters for this series are affiliated with Hip-Hop even though Hip-Hop seems to be one of the most influential subcultural movements for the lifestyle of young people today.
To be recognizable as a group visual identity has always been a vital aspect of such cultural trends. Although unique by nature people use to adapt their personal appearance to current cultural protagonists. Promoted by the media the look of a few iconic figures might become the blueprint for many of their followers. Actually, that is why fashion is a cult. On the other hand new visual trends - although communicated by few individuals - might have deeply rooted origins. Hip-Hop is a good example for that as it was created by young Afro- and Latin-Americans in the 1970s ghettos of New York.
To be recognizable as a group visual identity has always been a vital aspect of such cultural trends. Although unique by nature people use to adapt their personal appearance to current cultural protagonists. Promoted by the media the look of a few iconic figures might become the blueprint for many of their followers. Actually, that is why fashion is a cult. On the other hand new visual trends - although communicated by few individuals - might have deeply rooted origins. Hip-Hop is a good example for that as it was created by young Afro- and Latin-Americans in the 1970s ghettos of New York.
Almost a century ago August Sander portrayed people of his epoch by his renowned photographic opus »Antlitz der Zeit« published in 1929. He attempted to reveal the visual identity of social classes of the »Weimar period« in Germany. This aspect might be one reason for the present admiration of Sander´s work in particular because these former classes almost vanished since then. Sander´s comprehensive documentation recalls social circumstances of the past just by featuring ordinary people in the vicinity of his domicile in Cologne at that time.
Without intending to compare this book with Sander´s work the objectives are similar, however, the approach is different. First of all this book avoids any classification neither referring to social nor cultural aspects. Secondly it is exclusively devoted to the sitter´s faces which urged the photographer to approach the model very closely. That´s why this book is titled »Sensible Heat«. This term - borrowed from physics - indicates the exchange of warmth between two systems - in this case referring to the interaction between photographer and model.
The entire series of portraits was taken near the photographer´s place of residence. The selection for this book was done as a random sample, men and women in approx. equal shares. All portraits were taken before a black background using more or less the same field of view. Thus the method of sampling is always the same. Designed as a fan folded leporello »Sensible Heat« can be arranged as a stand-up display of more than 3m length. Instead of browsing through book pages the stand-up leporello make the viewer realise the group of people instead of just individuals. It also might symbolize the cohesion among the young people of today (in contrast to Sander´s times), whatever their social or cultural background might be.
Apparently the portraits reflect the influences of subculture (e.g. Hip-Hop) and fashion. In so far this book as Sander´s is a kind of time log. However, there is no uniformity quite contrary to former generations. Beyond all that fashionable attributes the portraits transmit emotional messages - sensible viewers might notice shyness as well as narcissism, coolness as well as confusion. That´s what make faces such a fascinating photographic object.
Original photographs are printed analogue on traditional gelatine silver fibre-based baryte paper.
Without intending to compare this book with Sander´s work the objectives are similar, however, the approach is different. First of all this book avoids any classification neither referring to social nor cultural aspects. Secondly it is exclusively devoted to the sitter´s faces which urged the photographer to approach the model very closely. That´s why this book is titled »Sensible Heat«. This term - borrowed from physics - indicates the exchange of warmth between two systems - in this case referring to the interaction between photographer and model.
The entire series of portraits was taken near the photographer´s place of residence. The selection for this book was done as a random sample, men and women in approx. equal shares. All portraits were taken before a black background using more or less the same field of view. Thus the method of sampling is always the same. Designed as a fan folded leporello »Sensible Heat« can be arranged as a stand-up display of more than 3m length. Instead of browsing through book pages the stand-up leporello make the viewer realise the group of people instead of just individuals. It also might symbolize the cohesion among the young people of today (in contrast to Sander´s times), whatever their social or cultural background might be.
Apparently the portraits reflect the influences of subculture (e.g. Hip-Hop) and fashion. In so far this book as Sander´s is a kind of time log. However, there is no uniformity quite contrary to former generations. Beyond all that fashionable attributes the portraits transmit emotional messages - sensible viewers might notice shyness as well as narcissism, coolness as well as confusion. That´s what make faces such a fascinating photographic object.
Original photographs are printed analogue on traditional gelatine silver fibre-based baryte paper.
Title: Sensible Heat
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-00-041097-0
Type: Hardcover, fan folded Leporello
36 pages
17 × 21 cm; 6,7 × 8,4 inches approx.
(unfolded Leporello: 306 × 21 cm; 120,5 × 8,4 inches)
Edition size: 200 numbered copies
Type of printing: offset duotone
Price: 42 EUR + shipping
Artist: Juergen Schmidt
ISBN: 978-3-00-041097-0
Type: Hardcover, fan folded Leporello
36 pages
17 × 21 cm; 6,7 × 8,4 inches approx.
(unfolded Leporello: 306 × 21 cm; 120,5 × 8,4 inches)
Edition size: 200 numbered copies
Type of printing: offset duotone
Price: 42 EUR + shipping
Sensible Heat is available at:
Bookstores:
Bücherbogen am Savignyplatz, Berlin
Büchers Best, Dresden
Libraries:
Galerie Ostlicht/Bibliothek, Wien
Fotohof/Bibliothek, Salzburg
Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Galerie Ostlicht/Bibliothek, Wien
Fotohof/Bibliothek, Salzburg
Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
