Deutsch
English
Personal statement of the photographer Matthias BRUGGMANN.
"As in quantum physics, the conditions of observation change the nature of what is observed." (Matthias BRUGGMANN)
Background information
If tens of thousands of pictures of torture taken by Syrian photographers do not attract the attention of the Western public, what can a foreigner who does not even speak Arabic achieve? Matthias BRUGGMANN's photographs critically examine the depiction of the horrors of war. They present Western audiences with a more nuanced view of the experience of armed conflict and blur the lines between photojournalism and contemporary artistic photography. Through them, he questions the codes of photojournalism and shifts the dividing lines between documentary photography and plastic photography.
Content
The Syria project 'An Act of Unspeakable Violence' by Matthias BRUGGMANN, begun in 2012, immerses us in the complexity of the conflict. From a documentary point of view, it is the only work of its kind done by a single Western photographer inside the country with the help of the best independent experts on the conflict. Covering a larger geographic area than Syria, his images shatter notions of borders and nations. They challenge our moral assumptions and create a better understanding of the violence that underlies the fighting." (freely translated, slightly adapted publisher's text, © Atelier EXB/Barral, 2018)