the images above are part of Benedikt Partenheimer's series "36 VIEWS OF MT. FUJI" /
all images courtesy and copyright Benedikt Partenheimer
all images courtesy and copyright Benedikt Partenheimer
Benedikt Partenheimer (*1977, Munich) looks at the world with different eyes than most other people. He travels and takes photos. But his photographs take us beyond the actual reality - they show a completely new perspective on what would usually seem normal. Neither the popularity of a photographed subject, nor the unspectacularity can distract Partenheimer to re-evaluate and explore a topic from a different angle.
During the artist-in-residency program "Art Scope" in Japan, for example, Partenheimer visits Mount Fuji - a mountain that is worshipped as both, a religious and a national symbol and it became one of most photographed objects in Japan. His series "36 VIEWS OF MT. FUJI" (above) observes the landscape, it investigates in the triangular shape, it plays with the balance between myth and rationality. Another series is dedicated to Japan's "Vending Machines" (below) - an urban phenomenon, as the country has more than 5.6 million of these glowing and energy drawing devices. Partenheimer traced the machines in the night and staged them as if they were uncanny characters in the dark. Illuminating the streets, Japan's vending machines highlight abandoned corners and cleared streets, while the theatrical aspect of the setting makes it seem ghostly. Both series will be exhibited in 2014 at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and at the Daimler Art Collection in Berlin.
the images above are part of Benedikt Partenheimer's series VENDING MACHINES /
all images courtesy and copyright Benedikt Partenheimer
all images courtesy and copyright Benedikt Partenheimer