Hassan J. Richter
Lost Places - Abandoned Places in East and West Germany and Europe
The photographer Hassan J. Richter sees himself as a monumental documentarian of deindustrialised areas and the consequences for these areas. He traces the scars and changes of these places and metaphorically elevates the selective, local historical experiences to a general level of human handling of successes and crises, values and superficialities of human existence.
Initially Richter found his motifs mainly in East Germany, but globalisation and the relocation of industrial production have broadened his artistic view to the whole of Europe.
For Hassan J. Richter the theme of "decay" is at the centre of his work. Decay is symbolic of modern man's problematic way of dealing with his own history and documents both today's fast-paced life and its transience as well as processes of repression, i.e. the human unwillingness to create and preserve a differentiated picture of history.
In their decay, "Lost Places" tell of people who once filled these places with life. Exactly these imprints are still reflected in the decay and are thus filled with the splendour of times long past. With his photography, the artist succeeds in capturing this magic of the past in unique snapshots and presenting them in an artistically appealing way.
The photos are taken with an analogue medium format camera and a plate camera. The basis for the intense colours of the pictures is a negative film.
Hassan J. Richter: Ufokommunismus / Fotografie, 120 x 90 cm, 2017
Hassan J. Richter: Konzertpause II / Fotografie, 160 x 120 cm
Hassan J. Richter: Amphibie / Fotografie, 120 x 60 cm, 2019
Hassan J. Richter: Mein Garten / Fotografie, 120 x 60 cm, 2017
Hassan J. Richter: NichtschwimmerInnenbecken III / Fotografie, 120 x 60 cm
Hassan J. Richter: Sport fällt aus / Fotografie, 200 x 60 cm