Photo: Florentina Vedernjak

POSITIONS - Final exhibition of the students from the 3rd and 4th semester at the Photography School Vienna

POSITIONS is an exhibition highlighting the culmination of work by the students of the Photography School Vienna. While it takes a good amount of time, skill and effort to compose the perfect photograph, it takes an enormous amount of creativity to come up with an original series or sequences. However that is exactly what the 4th semester students were given the task to do; to undertake an independent photography project, resulting in a series of four images. An exercise that begins with the selection of a theme and continues with the development of photographic images dedicated to portraying an entity. The beauty of a series is that each photograph can be enjoyed separately, however take them as a whole and you’ll experience them in a more unified and meaningful way.

Each series is thematically grouped both by the ideas that are consistent throughout the photographs, as well as through the visual style and techniques implemented whilst capturing the final pictures. Each project is unique and personal to the photographer.

Photo: Nora Gottardi

Photo: Sonja Bachmayer

Sequences within photography are a well-established approach used by many artists, as a compiled collection of images around a central theme has the power to draw and focus attention, as well as highlight key aspects of curiosity and interest. The most famous and influential example of artists who uses this technique are the artists Bernd and Hilla Becher, who since 1959 have extensively been photographing industrial structures that exemplify modernist engineering; such as water towers and oil refineries. Their photographs are exhibited and published in series, groups similar in design or subject. Their series which are made up of multiple images have the power to make these everyday buildings seem strangely imposing and alien. The Becher’s also taught photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where they influenced many future generations of photographers, amongst which Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth. They have had a considerable impact on minimalism, conceptual art and modern photography since the 1970’s .

The series of photographs, resulting from the finished projects on display in the exhibition POSITIONS tell a story; they take the viewer on a visual journey. The themes covered by the photographers vary greatly, allowing for a diverse and exciting exhibition: from portrayals of Vienna’s modern city life, architecture, portraiture, investigations into colour and light, explorations of nature and pattern, motherhood and the circle of life, to the everyday observations of culture and society. Each photographer is portraying his or her own individual narrative through images.

Photo: Nikki Harris

Photography exhibition in PhotoQuarter Vienna

Opening: Friday, 29.06.2012, 8pm
Schlössl Kino, Margaretenstraße 127, 1050 Vienna

Exhibiting Photographers:
Andreas Svirak, Angelika Löffler, Barbara Dombovari-Tichy, Christine Nestler-Kenzian, Dirk Zabel, Eleonore Gottardi, Florentina Vedernjak, Gerald Stampfer, Heidi Mehl, Julia Svoboda, Julia Wagner-Radinger, Maria Magdalena Biely, Marianne Schnitzler, Martin Hoffrichter, Michaela Leuthner, Nicolae Donat, Nikki Harris, Nina Strasser, Simone Steiner, Sonja Bachmayer, Sophie-Luise Passow, Ulrich Sperl

Admission free.

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