Anyone familiar with Engadin’s landscape would immediately recognise that Christopher Thomas’ works talk about its hills, mountains, lakes and meadows. His works illustrate the peace and monumentally of the mountainscapes as well as the contrasts of the shiny, reflecting lakes and the clam rock masses.
In 2012 Christopher Thomas approached for the first time Engadin’s landscape. With an open mind towards this mystical mountain world he achieved perspectives that were refreshing and new. Within the time of 2 years he captured the unique atmosphere of Engadin, its play of light and shadows at all seasons of the year in every wheatear conditions. As in his city portraits the artists worked in the technique of analogue photography. He chose the analogue panorama Camera of the type Linhof Technorama. In his bag he always carried the heavy tripod and rolls of black-and-white film which has to be changed after every fourth picture. This decelerated way of working and the tranquillity of the landscape gave his images the atmosphere of being detached from any time or space.
By a well-thought-out composition, the reverent approach towards the nature and the sharp black-and-white play Christopher Thomas succeeds to increase the drama of the landscape. Familiar environment is translated into atmospheric images triggering a timeless and poetic value to the scenery.
Born in Munich in 1961, Christopher Thomas completed his training as a photographer at the Bayerische Lehranstalt für Photographie. In addition to his more than twenty-five years as an internationally successful commercial photographer, he also succeeded in becoming established as a renowned photographic artist. Christopher Thomas has received several international awards for his photo reportages for Geo, Stern, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Merian and other magazines, as well as for his adverting campaigns. As an artist he has received great acclaim for his city portraits: Müncher Elegien (2001-05), New York Sleeps (2009), Venice in Soltitude (2011) and Paris City of Light (2014). Returning here once again tot he roots of photography, Thomas employs the analogue technique so as to photograph with a large-format camera and black-and-white Polaroid Typ 55 film. He also worked on a profoundly moving project in 2010: during the rehearsals for the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Thomas photographed the amateur actors on stage. Unique portraits are the result that are reminiscent of paintings by Old Masters and capture the energy of the play in an incomparable way.
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication “Engadin” edited by the curator Ira Stehmann in a limited edition of 500 copies.
Christopher Thomas
ENGADIN
21 Apr – 4 Jun 2016
Bernheimer Fine Art
Haldenstr. 11
6006 Luzern
www.bernheimer.ch
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
© Christopher Thomas
