The Invitation

The series The Invitation was selected for PHOTOLUCIDA Critical Mass Top 200 and received the Maine Media Award 2024. The Invitation II was awarded an Honorable Mention by L.A. Photo Curator. The series has also been published in Shadow & Light Magazine — The Art of Photography.

Artist Statement

Everyday life, constantly enclosing us, holds a wealth of treasures, waiting for being discovered by us, perceived in a moment of silence. In times like these, it might seem quite a challenge to give in to this deeply felt yearning for harmony and see the beauty that surrounds us.

On walking through a landscape, my senses can open up to moments of exactly this beauty, often unheeded and lying in secret, notice them and give them artistic expression. Pressing the camera shutter button, which opens the lens shutter for the moment I choose, is comparable to the symbolic act of opening a portal. It is exactly this act that creates a link between the objectivity of the perceived and my subjective interpretation.

The word portal is derived from the Latin word porta, meaning door, gate and gateway. They all stand for a transition from the outside to the inside world. As such, they can be regarded as entrances and exits and passages between the unknown to the known.

In architecture portals can be found throughout the centuries, be it in palaces, cathedrals, castles etc. They all are meant as invitation to enter and this inviting gesture is expressed in sculptural design and rich ornamentation, this underscoring the sanctity of the place, the transition from the mundane to the sacred.

Drawing upon this art historic inspiration, I attempt to open up a symbolic door for the beholder by way of sawing out and then three-dimensionally assembling a special picture element. It is brought to the fore by additional gilding in 24 carat - the purest form of this metal, thus creating a frame, a picture in the picture, in short: a portal.

Its intention is to create a thematic connection with the beholder and invite them to search for the translucent poetry in everyday life.

Shadow & Light Magazine - The Art of Photography

The series has also been published in the Shadow & Light Magazine - The Art of Photography
Issue 62, November/December 2024, ed. Tim Anderson · ISSN 2471-7681