The Citizen_Democracy in the „Post-Factual“ Age
Photographs 2017 - ongoing
Over the last year I have been photographing people at political rallies and demonstrations in Berlin. My starting point was the recent surge of populist, nationalist and authoritarian parties and tendencies worldwide that has been threatening liberal democracies. In response, people are standing up, and making their voices heard. To me they show active citizenship.
I joined my fellow Berliners on the streets to see and hear them practice their right of free speech. Marching together for a common cause works both ways, on the outside opposition becomes apparent and inside it has an encouraging effect. Talking to people I would otherwise not have encountered and whose opinion I don't share whatsoever was a rewarding experience and felt like bridging a gap dividing our communities.
These portraits make visible diversity as well as the shared belief in a common cause, and let us see the other. Each expression of opinion is a defense of our right of expression, and carries with it the possibility to renew and reform the society in which we live.
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Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism special issue on Media Literacy in a “Post-Factual” Age, published January 8, 2018
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