The Grey Line by Oliver Schneider
My pictures seem empty, the surface is the message. Under the surface may or may not be some truth or reality. Photography's frame is blanking out much more than it actually shows and the viewer tries to connect the dots. Inside and outside seems to become one in the blue hour when windows become monitors and things tell traces of human behavior. The remaining truth is lying behind the curtain of ever changing shadow and light. The narratives of my favorite film makers, musicians, photographers and writers are part of my subconscious and of my photographic viewpoint, that might transport more truth than the superficial surface of photography.
I'm taking a lot of pictures spontaneously but that doesn't mean I'm taking them unmeant. They are several phenomena I'm interested in and they're all connected to the appearance of light (on photographs). I know it's something obvious and basic that could be said about every photograph. But I think I'm just looking at things like a painter or somebody who likes to draw, I'm watching closely how the reality and the photographic picture looks like. So there is light, shadow, reflections, surfaces and structures I'm taking pictures of. Also for me the photographic picture is a medium that transports some links to reality but at some point it's just a picture consisting of light and shadow caught in an apparatus and printed on paper, it has no depth and limited abilities to transport complex ideas. I'm trying to avoid obvious pictures that you can easily read on the surface.
I like mistakes and experiments and I really think photography has still a lot of unexplored possibilities artistically and technically and that doesn't mean there's a need to find something "new", it's more about reconnecting ideas and finding my own voice. I always thought I have too less to tell and almost admired people that found a topic and a reason to take pictures for political or social reasons. Now I think I can have a voice that tells something that is maybe not so obvious and direct and still my pictures can have a meaning that is not only selfish. I'm trying to make pictures that trigger emotions that are effective for everybody and I'm trying to understand what life is about, maybe a little like Rinko Kawauchi or Tom Griggs are talking about life, death and innocence in her pictures.
"A terminator, twilight zone or "grey line" is a moving line that separates the illuminated day side and the dark night side of a planetary body. A terminator is defined as the locus of points on a Moon or planet where the line through a Sun is tangent." from Wikipedia
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oliver@actualcolorsmayvary.com
