Lines and silhouettes

The graphic moment that appears wrested from reality! This would be the way to describe the photographic approach of street photographer Siegfried Hansen, influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson's famous “Moment décisif”. Just like the master photographer, Hansen is also interested in the precise composition of an image. However, while the Frenchman always placed human activity at the heart of his perfectly composed pictures, Hansen just uses people as props – even if their placement is carefully calculated. Sometimes we see a silhouette behind a window, sometimes a foot that protrudes into the scene.

In his pictures, Siegfried Hansen works with the many graphic elements that he finds in real settings; he likes to experiment with fore and backgrounds, developing a sensitivity for urban spaces and for the inherent interplay of colours, surfaces and contours. Consequently, he creates compositions where plunging lines, grid structures and silhouettes combined naturally, giving them new meaning and, as often as not, conveying a cryptic element of humour.

Siegfried Hansen (born 1961) discovered a passion for street photography comparatively late in life. He has worked in the field since 2002, capturing wide-spread attention with his unusual work. His images have been published on numerous occasions and he has had various solo and group exhibitions in Europe and the USA. He is the only German member of the renowned In Public street photography group.

His first photo book, 'Hold the Line' was published last April by Kettler Verlag, and made it to the short-list of the Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Award.

The exhibition opens with the presence of Siegfried Hansen on Thursday, November 19, 2015, at 7pm. Ulrich Rüter (photo historian) will speak.

Further information available at Freelens