Martin Sander’s Photography
Martin Sander is on display at “Come look at my town”. The touring exhibition by ArchiMinimal Photography is travelling throughout Italy and shows the work of 38 photographers who have given their interpretation of the city. We are glad to introduce them all.
by Alessandra Bettoni
Martin Sander – Photo by ©Hendrik Lohman
Martin Sander takes part in the touring exhibition Come look at my town by ArchiMinimal Photography with this image, which has been taken in the city of Bochum Germany, in the Art-Church Christ-König. We are honoured to have Martin among the featured artists in the ArchiMinimal Photography Roadshow and if you want to get closer to this valuable photographer, you can read this interview published some time ago on the blog. #artevitae
City of Bochum – Art-Church Christ-König.
Martin Sander is brilliant photographer based in Germany. Architecture and the contemporary urban setting is particularly suited to his style of photography and enables him to fully express his personal vision.
di Alessandra Bettoni
Architecture and Urban photography is not only about lines and geometry. It can be more about life rather than symmetry. Many images strike necessarily our imagination, they tell us about situations, places, amazing buildings, some of them simply catch our attention because they tell a story, the author’s story of life. That’s the way Martin Sander’s photographic work can be sum up, the photography of life.
Martin, born in 1963, lives in Essen, a town located in the German Western Region. As we start the conversation we immediately realize he is so pleasant and happy to tell about himself, even though words don’t come easily. We start by his job, a very delicate one. He is a grief counselor, he is helping people to overcome grif situations. He deals with people and for job’s reasons he does it probably in the most painful moments of their lives. That’ s why photography. As he softly tells us:
Photography is my way to ‘escape’ from the hardness of my job.
As you might imagine, photography takes time and Martin was realizing not to have the time needed to dedicate to his deep passion. In 2011 he finally took the decision. He took a break from his job and spent almost one year dedicating to his great passion, starting photographing and producing those images he had always wanted to shoot.
“That was the trigger. ” – he says – “I was just taking my time to better realize what I wanted to represent in my photographs and put a lot of energy in it. At that time Architecture and Urban settings started attracting my attention and since then my keen eye for this kind of photography has been continuously evolving.”
AVB: Martin do you remember the moment you realized the need to fix time through a shot, it is something everyone feels especially at the very beginning of photographing.
MS: Well, I was a child actually. My father had a Leica at that time. I remember the trigger, so shimmering and that captivating click sound as he shooted. I was fascinated by his gestures. That was a new world to me and I felt, I wanted to explore it somehow.
AVB: We can say that the passion for photography is something you have been learning in your family, when did you start practicing? Do you remember your first shot?
MS: My aunt gave my first camera to me, I was only 6. I can’t remember now the brand but I can remember how happy I was. My father gave me patiently the first tips to start use it. That was the beginning and I started immediatly practising and my preferirei subject at that time was my father’s wonderful Meceds Benz. To be honest, my grandparents too got me inspired, they had a certain inclination for creativity and arts.
AVB: What is your approach today to photography?
MS: I think I put a lot of myself and of my way of living in my photography. I pass through life as if I were on a stage where people’s existence acts and unfolds. Always with open eyes, I try to fix its fragments in photographs which are representing moments and scenes that catch my attention and often are unusual to my eyes. I don’t think my images are mainstream, I think they often are the expression of my very personal, may be different, in some way intimate point of view.
AVB: How would you describe you images if you should explain what you do to people that don’t know you as a photographer? What are your plus, in your opinion?
MS: My images are in part the result of a mental processing. They are first in my mind and are conceived before shooting. Obviously, I also get inspired by the situations I see around me and I follow my istinct. By practicing photography you learn to see what others can’t. Maybe this is my strength, having developed over the years a keen eye for things and situations.
Martin shots mainly with digital cameras but he started with analog ones. Today he uses a Canon 5 Mark III and a Canon AE1, but sometimes he shoots even with a Leica 1935. He uses also different fix focal lengths depending on his needs but also a more flexible 16-300.
Architecture is very captivating to him and an endless source of inspiration: perfect geometries and crystal clear lines resulting in the many architectural elements surrounding us are among his preferred subjects. His approach to architecture photography is always aiming at originality: he likes to playing with different perspectives and capturing buildings from an unusual perspective. The harmony of lines and the geometrical order of architectural structures are probably a reflection of his personal way to ‘act’ in life.
Observing the surrounding urban architecture and capturing it in my shots is something than make me feel home.
Martin’s vision is amazing, he is able to combine the rigorous perfection of architecture with the emotional touch of a contemporary urban scene. No doubt on his deep sensitivity, his peculiar artistic style and his remarkable technical background. Just have a look at his images and you’ll soon understand what we mean. Thank you Martin.
Martin Sander – Images
ArchiMinimal Photography Roadshow – Mostra Collettiva Itinerante “Come look at my town!” – Edizione 2018
Logo ArchiMinimal Photography ©
“Come look at my town!”è la mostra itinerante promossa della casa ArchiMinimal che porterà in tour 38 fotografie di 38 autori, italiani e stranieri, in 9 città Italiane. Inaugurato lo scorso 20 gennaio a Bologna, il tour fotografico si concluderà con l’esposizione finale ospitata dal Semplicemente Fotografare Live 2018, consolidata e vivace kermesse fotografica curata dall’omonimo Gruppo fotografico che si terrà a Novafeltria di Rimini, negli ultimi due weekend di Settembre.
Il primo grande evento Live di ArchiMinimal Photography ha lo scopo di promuovere la fotografia d’architettura urbana, interpretata attraverso visioni urbane e architettoniche che attingano dall’essenzialità e dalla sottrazione di elementi alla composizione, non il contrario, esaltando quell’approccio compositivo tipico del minimalismo urbano che è anche il carattere distintivo dell’omonimo Gruppo fotografico.
ArchiMinimal Photography e il tema della mostra, la città. La mostra è promossa da ArchiMinimal Photography, il Gruppo social che tratta di fotografia d’architettura, alla quale ha attribuito diverse sfumature, raccogliendo immagini di architetture futuristiche e classiche, di dettaglio ma anche di paesaggio urbano contemporaneo e decadente. Annovera autori di diverse città e nazionalità che ogni giorno offrono le loro personali visioni urbane. Il tema della mostra itinerante trae spunto proprio da questo: la visione della propria città, sia essa di provincia o giungla urbana cosmopolita, quella in cui viviamo oppure quella che ha attratto la nostra creatività in occasione di una visita.
Fra i generi fotografici raccolti in ArchiMinimal Photography abbiamo quindi optato per quello denominato Urban Street che aspira ad unire l’elemento architettonico alla presenza umana che lo anima, dando vita a scenari urbani che raccontino la città in un tour virtuale intorno al mondo. Il tema ha consentito di aprire la partecipazione ad autori e fotografie di tutto il mondo – dall’Italia alla Francia e alla Germania, dalla Gran Bretagna agli Stati Uniti sino al Giappone. Le fotografie in mostra esaltano le caratteristiche urbane ed umane della città, luogo suggestivo e ricco di spunti creativi per indagare le mille sfaccettature del paesaggio urbano.
Le tappe del tour fotografico.
“Come look at my town” ha inaugurato il tour lo scorso 20 gennaio 2018 a Bologna e prosegue fino a Settembre 2018 nelle seguenti città:
- Genova: dal 12 al 25 Febbraio – Cinema Teatro San Pietro – Piazza S. Paola Frassinetti 10
- Roma: dal 02 al 16 Marzo – Studio Architetti Celletti – Via Simone de Saint Bon, 26
- Napoli: dal 28 al 13 Aprile – Magazzini Fotografici – San Giovanni in Porta, 32
- Ancona: dal 19 al 27 Maggio – Palazzo Camerata – via Fanti 9
- Gallarate (VA) dal 09 al 16 Giugno – Unique 18LAB – via Alfredo Cappellini 18
- Milano: dal 18 al 23 Giugno – Spazio Chiamamilano Laghetto 2.0 – via Laghetto 2
- Monza: dal 14 Luglio e per tutto Agosto – Spazio Turnè Bistrot – via Bergamo, 3