Dana Stolzgen
In Still Air
This is a photographic poem. As with any poem, explanation wouldn’t do any good. But I can tell you about its title.
I first imagined the title in German: ‘Bei Windstille’, which means that there is no wind. There is an absence and, because of this absence, there is stillness. We are waiting.
I cannot think of any medium that is more about stillness than photography. Just like music, a written poem is about sound. Films move through time. Photography is quiet and in it time stands still. And so we make photographs to try to keep something or someone with us, even though we know that it is impossible.
The English words ‘in still air’, too me, also suggest intimacy.
The air touches and envelops us. We are inside it. We remain still. And with our breathing the air disappears inside us. Just like something seems to have been lost inside these women.
Maybe they are really just one woman in one room.
Bio
Dana Stölzgen, born 1979, lives in Cologne. After her studies at the Fotoakademie Köln she is now part of the Postgraduate class at the Ostkreuz School of Photography, Berlin.
“Her work “In Still Air” has been published by Peperoni Books in October. The series ‘My Disguise’ has been released by DieNacht. Her artist book ‘Klappe’ has been published by KEHRER under the program category “Trouvé”.
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Maybe it’s just me, but i find the all-vertical composition of this work a hindrance to understanding it all. Why? Too bad, great subjects and light anyway.
Congratulations Dana. This is lovely. I love the concept, the statement, and the photographs. I feel a delicious stillness when viewing. It reminds me to savour quiet moments and the beauty of simple gestures. This is indeed very poetic. I love it when photographs can resonate with viewers and invite us to find meaning within our own associations.
I very much like the all vertical format. It’s a welcome change. It seems that many photographers shoot mostly horizontals merely because cameras are easier to hold that way.
very poetic. nice pictures. I like your essay very much – yes, the “Windstille” can be felt.
The format also works good with the pictures, even that landscape format seems to work better for online, portrait works great with magazines.
Cheers from Bonn!
Senstive, beautiful poems, Dana.
NeonplusAtlas I can’t see any reason at all why the vertical format would be a hindrance to your understanding. Perhaps you find a dichotomy in the seemingly relaxed nature of the photos inside a more tensed vertical box?
@Frostfrog
“Perhaps you find a dichotomy in the seemingly relaxed nature of the photos inside a more tensed vertical box?”
You’re right. It is exactly that kind of relationship between relaxed atmosphere and the seemingly claustrophobic vertical ratio. Thanx!
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