I hardly ever write or talk about my photography, mostly because up until now, there hasn’t been a good reason to do so. But I now have a photobook of my own coming out — my first one. So I want to use the opportunity to share some of the photographs with you, and I also want to speak about what the work means to me.
If you want to order a copy of the book from me (I will have about 250 to sell), please send me an email (jmcolberg@gmail.com).
The photographs in the book were taken in Poland and Germany (mostly Warsaw and Berlin but also other locations) between 2016 and 2019. On my first trip to Warsaw, I was inspired by what I encountered. I thought I would make pictures centred on the contrast between Poland and Germany, two countries that are so different for so many reasons, but that also have such interesting similarities.
That’s not the book, though. Even though there are many pictures taken in Poland, the book centres on Germany, specifically the presence of its recent history.
Even though I don’t think that anyone would pick this up from the book, I didn’t set out to make it in this way. Photographs don’t communicate intentions. Instead, the work — the pictures — ended up pulling me towards what it became.
I could tell you why I took this picture, but I won’t. All I’m going to say is that I didn’t take it for the reason you might imagine. Even though it’s not a very complicated photograph, it’s one that resonates very strongly with me.
Brief aside: Just recently, I found that this statue can also be found in Michael Schmidt’s Waffenruhe. I knew that Schmidt had been photographing at the location — which was literally right next to the Berlin Wall; but I didn’t recognise the statue in his book until recently (in Waffenruhe, it’s way out of focus somewhere in the foreground of a picture of the Wall).
Anyway, I like the idea that a picture one takes for one reason ends up offering very different reads. This happened a lot while I was looking at what I had taken.
I approached the work with some ideas in mind. Some of these ideas started out in a very literal fashion and then became more complicated — or maybe I should say: a little less simple. Some ideas fell by the wayside.
This is another picture I like a lot. When I took it, it was little more than a quick shot one day, on my way to lunch. I ran across the street to get close to the pile of sand and took the picture. I couldn’t have planned for it, but I instantly knew I had a picture I needed.
When I took this picture, I already knew that the book would be about Germany, specifically its Nazi past and the continued presence of that past.
I knew that the book would be incomplete without portraits. I had never taken portraits before, and to be honest, I was completely mortified. In the beginning, I tried photographing strangers in the street, but the experience was just all out terrible (not to mention that the pictures were terrible as well).
So I approached people I knew from the world of photography, and everybody was incredibly generous. I’m so grateful for that. I now feel more comfortable taking portraits even though it’s still terrifying for me.
All in all, with the work I want to communicate a feeling more than anything else. For me, it doesn’t matter where the pictures were taken or who the people are.
I tend to hate it when photographers attempt to explain their work. So I don’t want to do that. I just wrote that it doesn’t matter where the pictures were taken. If you look carefully in the picture above, you’ll see some Polish text here. That gives it away.
But I mostly was and still am so mesmerised by that cryptic message on the billboard. Ok, I know that it’s not a message in a literal sense.
But I see it as a message.
What does it mean?
I don’t know.
I grew up in West Germany in the 1970s and 80s, and there were a lot of strange messages. There also were a lot of things that weren’t talked about. The feeling of being surrounded by a silent code has stayed with me. This picture feels like that part of my childhood and adolescence to me.
The silent code still exists. In Germany, there still are some things that simply aren’t talked about much. At the end of September this year, German magazine Die Zeit published an investigation (German lang.). Its authors wrote
“At least 187 people were killed by right-wing perpetrators since 1990. Authorities only list 109 cases and investigate hesitatingly. How is this possible?” (my translation)
Indeed, how is this possible? Did you know about this? That’s a lot of people: 187. You can find their names in the article. Many of them had a migratory background.
There it is again, the silence, the code.
There it is again, right-wing thugs killing people for racist reasons.
This infuriates me.
This makes me ashamed for my country.
My book is about my fury, my shame.
As I’m writing this, I realise how upset I still am over what I’ve witnessed in Germany over the course of the past few years. The largest opposition party is the far-right AfD. You’d imagine, well I did imagine that until I learned better, that with so much history present and with so many discussions in schools and public forums this couldn’t be the case.
But no, here were are; a far-right party in parliament, at least 187 people killed by right-wing thugs since reunification. Meanwhile, just like in the US, German conservative politicians are talking about the supposed danger of Antifa.
I have no illusions that photographs — whether mine or anyone else’s — can change anything. But even if my pictures don’t change anything I still wanted to make them (and I will make more). Because not doing something — even if it’s just the gesture of spending a lot of time and money on making pictures and then a book: that wasn’t an option for me.
I don’t know what you might make of the preceding. I’m hoping it tells you a little bit about what drove me to make the book and what you can find inside.
If you want to order a copy of the book from me (I will have about 250 to sell), please send me an email (jmcolberg@gmail.com).
With that I want to conclude today’s email. The book has been long in the making, and I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about my own photography.
I hope you’re staying safe and well!
As always thank you for reading!
— Jörg
I’m a freelance writer, photographer, and educator currently living and working in the US.
This Mailing List is my attempt to bring back some of the aspects that made early blogging so great -- community engagement and a more relaxed and maybe less polished approach to writing and thinking about photography. You can find the bulk of my main writing on CPhMag.com.
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Congratulations on your 1st photography book! Much success to you!
Dear Jörg,
I really like your articles, the thoughtful insights and it is always a pleasure following your train of thoughts. First of all I want to congratulate you for your first photobook. But I have to admit that I can not agree to the impression of the German society you are giving in this text. I was born 1970 and in my memory the 70s and 80s were in a way narrow-minded and with my knowledge of today there indeed were very conservative and even right-winged hints in all aspects of the society. Especially when I was serving in the army this was obvious.
But since then a lot of things have happened. First of all the majority of the people is way opener towards different styles of living and loving, our society has changed a lot. Sure, it depends where you are living but the overall tolerance is much better.
Your comment about the 187 people killed is also misleading, from my point of view we have a problem with left- and right-winged activities and we had (or have) a problem with right-winged people in the police forces in the middle part of Germany. But this is now investigated and openly discussed, people are kicked out of their jobs and if you compare it with the political problems in the US, UK, the eastern states I am so happy to be allowed to live in Germany. The populists like Trump, Bolsonaro, Johnson, Orban,... are horrible for the democracy worldwide and social media is playing a desastrous role in this, but Germany is, in comparison, coping well. I travelled a lot and therefore I think, that your feelings are too negative. I invite you to come to Rheine to have a first-hand impression . :-)
But, regardless, please continue to write your texts, I really appreciate every one of your thoughts, otherwise I would not have written this lenghty text.