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6/3/2009

Lukas Roth

Camera Work Gallery, Berlin

From March 7th to April 18th 2009, Camera Work will present in its gallery space the large-scale work of photographer Lukas Roth. The thematic spectrum of the presented works dating from 2002 to 2008, range from architecture and landscape to panoramic photographs. Lukas Roth thereby uses a special technique. He photographs individual elements in everyday environments such as train stations, streets, beaches or architectural sights and then later works them into one comprehensive photograph.

A banal hallway in the Düsseldorf train station becomes an endless corridor hemmed together from perfectly arranged shops and advertising panels. This composition was arranged with digitally grouped passers-by who embody the work of the artificial but in order to enhance the supposed claim of reality. Only at a closer look does it become clear that such a perfect image - whose perspective is already impossible in reality - could never have been observed.

The interpretation and questioning of perception is a central motif in Lukas Roth's work. They are "often excessive in order to reproduce the atmosphere of the place".
Prototypical is the image of the Palast der Republik in the midst of complete destruction and in whose glass facade the reflection of the Berliner Dom is seen. Indeed, Lukas Roth constructs a perfectly harmonious image, and unifies two monumental testimonies of past epochs in the smallest of possible spaces: the ever-lasting Berliner Dom and the vanishing Palast der Republik, in whose place the Stadtschloss will be erected, thus ideologically relating it to the Dom. Such a photograph could never have been achieved using conventional mediums alone.

The seemingly wide angle photograph of the Badestrands (2005) fits so perfectly with the idea of a southern vacation until one discovers that amongst the countless bathers, no one is actually in the water. The imposing appearance of Aquarium (2007) also only reveals its craft upon a second look: in the foreground people are looking at the scenery through a glass pane. Yet, amazingly, a shark swims over the observer and the hollow depths seem to disappear into the endless sea.

The image appears surprising and strange for the viewer because the artist uses classical analogue photography (the large format) that he then manipulates thanks to computer graphics and editing. He therefore radically frees the medium of photography from the tradition of faithfully rendering reality, thus simultaneously enriching it with new possibilities of expression. Roth thus takes the freedom to express in a new way found spatial conditions; he thus creates inventive, constructed and perfectly staged spaces.

Attached you will find the press photographs that can be used for publication purposes. A right to use these press photographs for publication can only be granted in connection with a reference to the exhibition at Camera Work and the use of corresponding captions. In addition, Camera Work explicitly stipulates that the provided photographic material may in no way be altered or cropped.

We would be happy to welcome you to this exhibition in our gallery. The artist will be present at the opening and will be available for interviews after prior arrangement.

Image: Untitled (Glacier I), 2008

Camera Work Gallery
Contemporary Photography and Vintage Masterworks
Kantstraße 149 . 10623 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m

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