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Background information
"The photo volume '45' by Damian HEINISCH describes a sequence of image fragments that emphasize and contrast human presence in their physical surroundings. Upon closer examination, the viewer becomes aware that all images are taken through a train window. The photographer’s journey, which takes him from Ukraine to Oslo through present-day Europe, is inspired by train journeys taken by relatives in 1945 and 1978, leading them to death or freedom. At this point in all three journeys, each family member turned 45. The book’s narrative challenges the issue of forced immigration within the boundaries of Europe’s past and present. Eight months after the author’s return in 2013, a new conflict erupted in the Donetsk region, leading to an ongoing war." (© Mack Books, 2020)
Content
In this photo volume, '45' by Damian Michal HEINISCH, the viewer experiences three train journeys from three different eras, which unite a common family history with the number '45': 4,323 kilometers - Doneszk-Oslo - first in pictures and then in diary-like short texts. The color photographs at the beginning, taken with a 35 mm camera, are from the photographer's last trip. In their partly very coarse-grained structure and the fragment-like character they describe the fleeting element of the photographs. A closer look reveals that all the photos were taken through train windows. Thus, Damian HEINISCH forms a historical lineage by linking these three journeys, and this works extremely well as a photo book. The Japanese binding comes close to a fanfold, a generally well-suited format for photo books that focus on travel. The image size also allows details to be seen well. The questions initially raised in the images about the photographer's origins and relationship to the people and motifs depicted are answered in the texts printed on monochrome paper.
About the Polish photographer, Damian Michal HEINISCH (b. 1968, in Zabrze)
Photo books by Damian Michal HEINISCH