Straßentanz

In his Straßentanz series, the photographer captures forms of improvisation, where “inner voices and feelings merge with cosmic powers”. In an interview, he describes how he came up with, and realised, this idea.

LFI: What is the idea behind the "Straßentanz" story?
Alexander Klang: The summer of 2020 was just over. You could feel that the situation with the pandemic was about to intensify again and that, as a result, our radius of movement would be limited, once more. So, there wasn't much time left to organise anything. I put out a call on Facebook, looking for people who had time and the desire to let me photograph them over the coming days, in the streets of Berlin. So many people responded to the appeal, so quickly, that I was unable to answer every one of them personally, unfortunately. To move, to be outside – a street dance: that corresponded precisely to the feeling during that time between the two lockdowns.

Unusual movements also appear in some of your other works. What particular connection do you have with dancing?
In doing portrait photography, I feel it's incredibly difficult not to fall into the very familiar or staged-like poses. I always hope to find something unique in the process; something that should emerge from the individuals themselves. It could be an unconscious movement of the hand, or a certain posture. Sometimes, it simply arises from the situation; but at other times, it needs a certain amount of support to make it happen. It's true that I'm fascinated by the connection between dance, movement and body, but I'm not looking for typical dance photos. I'm much more interested in the unexpected, the hope for a very particular, short moment, when I find something that I could hardly have imagined, beforehand.

Why did you decide on black and white for this series?
First of all, I asked my models to not wear too dark or too wide clothes, so that the body and its movements could be perceived as one unit. After that, it made sense to further emphasise the contrasts within the environment, which I find works best in black and white pictures. Finally, the images are rather detached from time, which is something I like very much, and which I also took into consideration when choosing the backgrounds. (Interview: Carla Susanne Erdmann)

All images von this page: © Alexander Klang, from the series 'Strassentanz'
Equipment: Leica-S (007) with Summarit-S 70 f/2.5 Asph., Elmarit-S 45 f/2.8 Asph. and Summicron-S 100 f/2 Asph.