The end of a love story
The end of a love story
Peer Kugler
October 12, 2017
Breakup, New York 2000
“I went to New York in September 2000, to study documentary photography and photo journalism at the International Center of Photography (ICP). I was very happy to have been accepted at the ICP, as I had tried and failed to get in two years earlier. Unfortunately, my girlfriend at the time was unable to accompany me and stayed in Hamburg. She found the separation over such a distance very difficult. Two and a half months later, she met someone new and wanted to break up with me. She came to New York for a weekend at the beginning of December, so that we could see each other and talk together one last time.
On that weekend we were supposed to photograph a reportage for one of our courses. I explained the situation to my teacher and told her that, unfortunately, I would be unable to complete the assignment: my girlfriend was coming and we were in the process of breaking up. My teacher look at me with understanding and simply said, “Well, photograph your weekend.” I gulped. Though photography had always accompanied our relationship, and the first photo of the two of us was taken on our first morning together, I couldn’t just photograph the breakup with my loved one.
On the day she arrived I was unable to take even one picture, but things changed on the second day and I was able to start taking photos. Over two days I repeatedly took pictures of her and of us. With tears in our eyes, we also tried to replicate our very first photo. After she left, I took the films to a photo laboratory, though I didn’t want to see the pictures.
During the next class, I gave the slides to my teacher and asked her to make a selection. It was really difficult for me to look at the screen, and it took a long time until I was really able to look at the photos. Looking back, I’m really happy to have this picture, and to have managed to overcome my reluctance to capture this difficult moment.
Do you also experience moments that you would like to capture for ever? On November 4 and 5, Peter Kugler will be our guest at LFI in Hamburg, where he will run a workshop dealing with
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC - the Digital Darkroom. You can book one of the few places left, up until October 15.
www.lfi-online.de/workshop
On that weekend we were supposed to photograph a reportage for one of our courses. I explained the situation to my teacher and told her that, unfortunately, I would be unable to complete the assignment: my girlfriend was coming and we were in the process of breaking up. My teacher look at me with understanding and simply said, “Well, photograph your weekend.” I gulped. Though photography had always accompanied our relationship, and the first photo of the two of us was taken on our first morning together, I couldn’t just photograph the breakup with my loved one.
On the day she arrived I was unable to take even one picture, but things changed on the second day and I was able to start taking photos. Over two days I repeatedly took pictures of her and of us. With tears in our eyes, we also tried to replicate our very first photo. After she left, I took the films to a photo laboratory, though I didn’t want to see the pictures.
During the next class, I gave the slides to my teacher and asked her to make a selection. It was really difficult for me to look at the screen, and it took a long time until I was really able to look at the photos. Looking back, I’m really happy to have this picture, and to have managed to overcome my reluctance to capture this difficult moment.
Do you also experience moments that you would like to capture for ever? On November 4 and 5, Peter Kugler will be our guest at LFI in Hamburg, where he will run a workshop dealing with
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC - the Digital Darkroom. You can book one of the few places left, up until October 15.
www.lfi-online.de/workshop
Peer Kugler+-
Born in 1966, Peer Kugler studied at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and at the ICP in New York. He has had numerous exhibitions and published many books. He has also been published in Le Monde, the New York Times, Stern, the Greenpeace Magazin, among others. Kugler lives in Berlin. More
Breakup, New York 2000