Photography

Take Your Picture!

Personal Project

Take your picture! is an attempt to stop taking and start giving pictures. Its also a try to fulfill the wish to be remembered. I first stumbled across this thought when my late grandmother asked my mother to write down the story of her life. It again crossed my mind, when I went through my family’s old photographs. Its a box of images, some of wich are over a hundred years old. I can’t imagine my grandchildren getting excited about a bunch of outdated harddrives they find on their attic. It’s my decision what I will leave behind, but what if there’s more important things to spend your money on, like food and shelter? I started this project giving away Polaroids on a trip to Uganda, where I shot close to 90 pictures. Many of these pictures I think were the finest portraits I have ever taken.

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Uganda

While in Uganda, I gave away the majority of pictures in Kamwokya and Kyebando, Kampala. To not ruin the business of all the small photo-studios in the slums I gave most of them to children.

 

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Morocco

On a more recent trip to Morocco I again brought a Polaroid along, handing out more pictures.

 

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A worker in a shipyard in Essaouira, Morocco, holding a picture of himself posing in front of a wooden fishing boat being built there.

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Take Your Picture!I shoot Fuji FP-100C color film, so the pictures also reflect the time they were taken in. The camera I use is a Polaroid 340 Automatic (sometimes bringing a 330 as a backup). All the waste (except cardboard boxes and paper) was taken back to Europe for recycling or proper disposal.

This project was kindly supportet by Calumet Hamburg and the Designbüro Sven Hoffmann who I thank very much for making it possible. I also thank Alex, Kati and Simone, three social work students from Austria, as well as all the people from KCCC who showed me around the slums of Kampala.

To be continued in the future.
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