Night, 1987-1992
Back in the mid-1980s at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, black-and-white photography was the order of the day, making it hard for color photography to assert itself. The main reason for this discrepancy was the difficulty involved in mastering the technical processes for the development and enlargement of color photographs without having the right materials at hand. And color photography was frowned upon anyway, viewed as too gaudy, coarse and banal – and in the opinion of its critics not conducive to representing reality.
“Inspired by films like The American Friend (Wim Wenders, 1977), I wanted to finally introduce color into my pictures. Color that would be a completely normal component of the image, an informative addition, not kitsch. Which opened up for me the possibility of representing peculiarly dissonant or achromatic, grayed color constellations as they really appeared.” (MH, 1990)
Matthias Hoch tested this possibility first in night and twilight photos taken in Leipzig and East Berlin. Artificial light sources shape the character of these images, with hues that shimmer between blue, green and magenta, reinforcing the abstract quality of the scenery.
Exhibitions: Matthias Hoch: Stadt. Fotografien 1986-92, Nagel Draxler Kabinett, Berlin, 2021;
Matthias Hoch: Train Stations and Night, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, 2011
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