Renate Graf
about
In my pursuit of capturing the world as I perceive it, both, the profane and the sacred, storytelling and mysticism hold a transcendental power. They transport the viewer beyond predefined identities, beyond dogmas, beyond national boundaries.
My images exist to serve a diff erent purpose from those of any photographer, they are neither complete nor conclusive. Th ey work, not only as image, but as language, as signposts pointing towards meaning. They do not de fine, they witness, and in the vast cultural variety of an universe they are a language by itself, my language to describe the world as I see it.
If thought is the supreme creative tool, it is no accident that we call a breakthrough moment of comprehension “seeing the light”. Perhaps this implies that photography is the most succinct and direct means of revealing visual truth, even if just for a fleeting moment.
My images go beyond themselves; they evoke possibility, supported by poetry and imbued with quotes from great writers whose words often compliment my photography. Poetry has given meaning to landscapes for me.
Some of my greatest inspiration comes from poets like the Austrian Ingeborg Bachmann —who I have worshipped since a student— the poetry of T.S.Eliot, Paul Celan, Rainer Maria Rilke, the writings of Fernando Pessoa, texts by Joseph Brodsky, and Paul Valery to name only a few, as well as the aesthetics of films like “Sans Soleil” by Chris Marker, the French Nouvelle Vague, and the Russian filmmaker Tarkovsky have accompanied my whole life. I think in images.
artworks
