Where and what are you studying?

I’m studying fine art at the Münster Academy of Fine Art and have been in Professor Julia Schmidt’s advanced painting class since 2017.

Would you perhaps like to give us a brief insight into what you’re currently working on? 

I’ve just finished a small run of prints for an upcoming group exhibition (Superdruckmarkt, 1–10 December 2023, Brunnenstraße 107, 13355 Berlin) in Berlin. At the same time, I’m also working on a slightly more extensive book project, for which I took photographs in Sicily during my travel grant. My aim is to have it finished before the end of this year. 

Meanwhile, in our class, we’re slowly starting to plan the exhibition tours for early next year (31 January – 4 February 2024), and in between, I’m still sorting through the paperwork I need to complete for my upcoming Cité Internationale des Arts scholarship in Paris.

Do you focus solely on photography, or do other artistic media also feature in your work? 

As well as photography, I also mess about with concrete now and then or build things out of wood. Those pieces tend to lean more towards the sculptural. At the start of the year, I had my first proper go at screen printing. It turned out to be a 6x3m lorry tarpaulin featuring an abstract motif based on a black-and-white underwater photograph I took in Kenya several years ago. Essentially, you could say that when I work with other media, they’re often inspired by my photography or the themes I explore in it. Before I head to Paris, I definitely want to continue working with screen printing during the darker months of the year, when I rarely get round to taking photographs. Perhaps there’s even time to start another book project that’s still floating around in my head. 

Who inspires you? Is there anyone in particular?  

There are a few well-known figures whose visual language most people are familiar with, but also lesser-known artists who sometimes stick in my mind. Wolfgang Tillmans, Tobias Zielony, Nan Goldin, Peter Piller, Juergen Teller, Martin Parr, Thibault Lévêque, Rosie Matheson, Josh Kern, Pierre Descamps… the list is very long. I always try to look at as much as possible and not let myself be inspired exclusively by photographers, so that I remain flexible in my perspective and open to new ideas. 

How do you choose your subjects? Do you always have a specific goal in mind, or is it more of an emotional process? 

 With a small analogue camera as my companion in everyday life, I look for moments that seem interesting – ones that arise spontaneously – and then capture them intuitively. These include, for example, curated still lifes and things that are unconsciously arranged by others in the environment and urban space – emerging details that remind me of something, speak to me or reveal something. A modest endeavour to make the universal visible, or even to question it. 

Which themes have been on your mind for some time? 

I find it rather difficult to name specific themes. Intimate situations amongst friends, the question of one’s own identity, or the margins of society are just a few examples of what I explore. Most of the time, I’m simply looking for a certain atmosphere or lighting mood in the subjects. For people striking particular poses or facial expressions, and how they interact with their surroundings. In doing so, I pay attention to specific perspectives, cropping, the play of shadows and particular lighting conditions. Sometimes it’s also an aesthetic that emerges through abstract patterns in depictions of what is conventionally considered unaesthetic – such as rubbish, decay or wear and tear – that piques my interest. 

Who are the people you portray? And why are their faces never shown?

The people often come from my close circle or are complete strangers to me. In most of the images that portray a person in a particular way, the specific cropping – without the face – usually conveys more to me than a full-body image would. Unless the focus is explicitly on the mood expressed by the face, including it would often simply distract from what is essential. The focus should be entirely on the lighting, the emotion or the body language. This absence also creates a kind of universality, or rather, opens up the possibility of broader access for the viewer. 

How would you describe your style? 

Phew, what a difficult question. Generally speaking, I’d say that my photographs usually have a documentary character and feature the deliberate use of light, shadow and colour. However, it’s happening more and more often that certain people recognise my style or my visual language, which I find very flattering. So perhaps I’m simply too close to it to give an adequate answer, and it would be better to ask the viewer.

Thank you for your replies! 

Thank you very much for the award, the interview and the opportunities offered by the platform!

Click here to view Adrian’s work.