Copyright @ Nadav Kander
Photographer Nadav Kander was born in 1961 in Tel Aviv and grew up in South Africa. His photography, he says, attempts to do what good art does: to make the viewer think himself into what he is looking at in order to have something stirred that needn't have anything to do with the actual photograph.
stern Fotografie Nr. 69 features landscapes, portraits, and
bodies; we also get to see two pictures by Felicity McCabe of the
photographer at work. stern-Artdirector Johannes Erler characterises Kander's portraits as "of such contrived artificialness that, at first glance, you hardly recognise the people he has portrayed. e.g. Robbie Williams – only to understand them, moments later, better than before." Not sure about that. Moreover, quite some people (see David Lynch above) are easily recognisable. On the other hand, how does one bring the many disparate portraits in this tome under one roof? Well, why should that be necessary anyway?
Copyright @ Nadav Kander
I felt especially attracted by Kander's landscape
shots that Johannes Erler describes as
"stage-managed, although he takes nothing away from them nor adds
anything to them. But by apparently observing them for so long, he
manages to distil their essence in both artistic and factual terms." I
must admit I'm a bit at a loss in regards to such ponderings. The
essence of a landscape? To me, Kander's landscapes radiate something
surreal; human beings, when present, seem to disappear into the vastness
of space. It is the spaciousness that Kander managed to capture that I find so remarkable, it filled me with a sense of awe.
Copyright @ Nadav Kander
The third section of this well-done tome shows bodies painted white. On most of them their faces are turned away from the viewer. Kander elaborates: "So they're there, and they're not there – and that reflects the melancholy in us ... The vulnerability through form is what I'm seeking to show ..." Does he succeed? To my mind, he does.
"In Kander's pictures the world is a collection of strange places and people", comments editor Jochen Siemens. Taken with an exceptional eye and a keen sense for proportion, I feel like adding.
***
stern Fotografie Nr. 69 includes Talent Booklet 02 featuring Katja Mayer who is introduced by Nadav Kander: "It becomes more about what lies behind the lens than what is in front, and that is what I like very much about this work." Curious? Check her work out at www.katjameyer.com.
Nadav Kander
stern Fotografie Nr. 69
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