General Press Release

Gianluca Maver (IT), Barak Reiser (ISR/D) and April Gertler (USA) use photography as a common artistic tool to photograph during dark hours and within dark spaces. Although they each work with this theme in their own specific way, here, they have combined their work together for an ongoing collaborative project.

What, on the one hand makes each of these artists have an individual perspective on this theme is also what brings their work together. It is clear to see that they are not using the same camera and the same shooting techniques, but they are all interested in either using the night landscape to search for the sometimes hidden meaning of shadows or the brightness the night can offer.

Gianluca Maver’s desire to capture an isolated object or moment is evident in his images. While using a flashlight he searches in obscure corners of the landscape, including country roads and suburban streets to uncover possible clues to events that might suggest social disorder. He works like a detective that collects information and evidence which help him craft his images.

On the other hand Barak Reiser takes time not only to make his images using long exposures but he is also working in the everyday landscape within the city limits. He is interested in documenting and showing the comforts the evening can offer similar to the information that we see in a video sequence; those inbetween moments before or after an event actually takes place. Because of this he is focusing on platforms, rings, and open spaces where a simple action might take place.

In contrast to the two male photographers, April Gertler emphasizes pulling back and creating scenerios, for example; a loan white house in an empty parking lot. Her color images reference cinemagraphic film-noire stills. She is concentrated on referencing a city or place that is everywhere but no where at the same time. In addition to her landscapes, she is also curious about photographing possible ‚actors’ for her landscapes.

The compilation of the artists’s images is a result of an ongoing dialogue and collaboration the photographers have had with one another. Their idea is to integrate the work into one cohesive body of images. Therefore they choose each other’s work in a democratic process, concentrating on the images as a whole; 3 separate archives that are brought together and edited to create one body of work. Finally, the identity of the photographers is not important for them in terms of how the images are hung together. Rather they are interested in creating an installation of images that they hope reveals a narrative and is able to examine and question the notion of place and time.