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chrischa

This German artist has photography that will keep you inside so that you won’t take photographs that suck compared to hers.

Is this too harsh? She has good stuff, check it out.

At least once a week we see amazing images you post on our myspace, as well as other profiles we stumble apon. How do you use the internet to further your artwork across this global medium?

I use the internet for networking a lot because it´s amazing how much interesting people you can meet and get in touch with them. As I´m not living in a big city where there´s a great art scene the internet is even more important. I try to draw attention to my work by posting photos to people I like or I consider interesting to work with. And I´m very keen on feedback to develop my work.

I have also a that I, among others, use to get feedback to my photos. I think the internet has become the most important way for me to “promote” my stuff as you reach a lot of people and you can overcome distances. There was some lady from the chinese art&fashion magazine Vision that discovered my pics via the internet and wanted to feature some photos in the July issue. And also the italian The End Magazine wanted a photo for their June issue. Recently another Italian mag (Pig Mag) contacted me via flickr and wanted to present a short interview and photos in their “Buddy of the Month” section. And a video got just featured on No Knock Room because the girl who runs it got interested because of my myspace.

I´m also very interested in photo and artblogs and visit them regularly to see what´s on. And I´m emailing artists whose work I like or magazines to show them my work. It´s also very cheap cause it´s just data so you can send your stuff to a lot of people.

So you’re located in Austria?

Yeah, at the moment but actually I´m from Germany.

How is the art scene in this part of Europe? What artists are you watching closely from this area, or beyond?

The city I´m living in now, Linz, is going to be the cultural capital of Europe in 2009 and at the moment they have launched a lot of projects but I wonder if it´s just a show for the people or if they will still care afterwards about the art scene or if they just do it for their prestige. And as I´m from Germany I´m not that familiar with the Austrian art scene to be honest. I focus more on what´s going on in germany or in the usa. As i´m especially interested in photography it´s tinyvices.com i visit very often as well as some photographers from sweden that I´ve noticed recently. But I´m also interested in what´s happening in London. In Germany I observe the schools that are well-known for photography as for example Duesseldorf or Leipzig. In Leipzig they are also launching f/Stop, an international photography festival (and I´m proud to have 3 pics in a group-show there) and I´m looking forward to it and hope they can establish it and further the young photography scene. And of course I have an eye on what´s going on in Berlin. And this year the “Documenta” in Kassel will take place again. It lasts 100 days and is just every 5 years but a big and important art event. So I hope I can make it to go there. I try also to stay informed by reading art magazines (e.g. “Monopol” or “Photonews” – German ones) and as mentioned articles and blogs on the web.

I´m observing the art scene in general I couldn´t limit it to a few artists. And I don´t want to limit it. But I think as strange as it might sound I´m not focussing that much on the art scene that seems to be close to me but more on that in other areas. I don´t know but sometimes I think the USA is “faster” and that it sometimes has discovered German artists before Germany does. And I think there has to be a bit more support for the younger artists and their ideas – and not just for the established ones. I think a bit more encouragement and motivation would be good in the area I live.

There is always bright and exciting colors used in your pieces, leaving me wondering how you use colors to further explicate your themes or ideas to your audience?

Well, I´m also a big fan of black and white photography but I think that´s something you have to rule to make a good photo. And so I´m also practicing that at the moment but after some time I always return to colour. Colour is something that can change so much. I mean if you have a photo and it´s more in a yellow and warm tone it can have an absolutely different meaning or mood as the same photo in a more bluish tone for example. That´s very exciting how people get influenced just by the colour and how you can use that to evoke a certain atmosphere. I have always been very intrigued with color and often told people that the colour of their clothes is the same or matches or whatever just because I recognized it in some way. And they have always been quite surprised that I pay attention to something like that. I can´t explain it but there´s something inside me that draws me to colour. I feel a deep love for colours and whenever I go out I just start to “analyze” my environment concerning the colours. It´s kind of an addiction. Colour is something that lives. I think colours are like emotions and so you can create a picture of certain emotions with it or draw attention to certain objects or spots in it. And I think this can finally also be very difficult if you won´t overdo it. It´s like too much emotions also add up to confusion and unless you want to create confusion the dose of it is important. But I´m a very confused person so I have to take care, haha.

So do you find yourself gravitating towards color pr black and whites for your works?

I like both and I think it depends on what you want to express. I´m working more with colour and think maybe that´s more appropriate for me at the moment but I wouldn´t say that I like one of these better. There are great photos in black and white and bad photos in colour as well as the other way round.

What camera(s) do you use the most for your works?

I work mostly with an analogue reflex cam (Canon eos 300) and a digital reflex (Canon eos 5d). Sometimes I use also shoot and point cams. And I want to do some more with medium format, too.

What first got you excited about photography and its possibilities? I always wonder why photographers choose this medium over something like painting, drawing, mixed mediums, etc.

Haha, I´ve always been regretting that I can´t draw or paint. And then I discovered, oh I needn´t have those skills to make a picture. Sometimes I still want to be able to draw or paint what´s in my mind and I get a bit angry that I can´t express some ideas with photography but in general I like the fact that photography is very close to reality and can make such a difference however. If you look at a painting you say: oh, okay, but it´s a painting. With photography you have the possibility to unsettle the spectator if that on the photo is something that is real or staged or whatever. That´s a great quality of photography! Especially in our modern society where it has become very difficult to trust anything and to trust pictures it is interesting to play with that in art. You can picture reality or create your own “reality” and maybe people can identify with it in some way because there is still something of a “maybe”, of a “it could be possible”. A photo will always contain some tiny piece of „reality“ at least. It happenend that i wanted to “jump into a photo” I was looking at and be part of that scene that was depicted there. But hat was because i felt it could be a different idea in regard to the “reality” I´m used to. Sometimes if I´m driven by a certain idea I also work with other media (but painting and drawing is something I leave to those who rule it), So photography is not the only one that is “legitimate” for me but the one I´m absolutely in love with.

Tell us more about this project you are involved in called “Youth in the Country” and more information about it.

Youth in the Countryside is an international photo-project in which 8 different countries and 3 photographers each take part. It´s about exploring how young people in the countryside live these days. If there are differences to life in a city resp. which differences there are. In the course of globalization also youths in the countryside might get influenced with ideas of city-life and its lifestyle. Each photographer can approach the theme in his own way but with a concept (I´m photographing a scouts-group).

We have had a workshop in Berlin so far to talk about our ideas and show our photos. And in July we will have another workshop in Brittany to see how things have developed. In 2008 there´ll be exhibitions in the participating countries/cities Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, London, Paris, Sofia and Warsaw as well as in 2009 the last exhibition in Linz. And there´ll also be a publication. At the moment we have an internet platform to stay in contact.

I´ve joined the scout´s camp last year and in a few days I´m going to go with them on their annual camp again to take further photos. In general it´s pretty exciting to see what´s going on in the countryside in different countries and what different approaches the photographers of this project have to that topic.

Outside of photography where do you find yourself – or are you ever away from your camera?

Huh, I think I´ve a very close relationship to my camera, haha. But I manage to be without it for some time if I have (!) to. But I also enjoy literature a lot and I´m writing lyrical stuff which is another way to create pictures for me that I can´t create with the camera. Sometimes I take my guitar and I love to sing a lot! I´ve also created a but that was more for my friends to show them my music or to see how people react. It´s very homemade and very bad quality cause I recorded it with a cheap headset, haha. Anyway, it´s just some way to “relax”. And I love going out for a walk and watching, watching, watching…listening…smelling…feeling…and thinking…nature, water. Also of course listening to music, going to exhibitions or looking at art in books or wherever. And communicating with my friends and people I love! That´s very important to me. Doing rag. Experimenting and leaving chaos. Discovering people and places. Acting on the stage of everyday life and sometimes trying to turn it upside down.

Shout outs, yells, hollers?

Thanks to all people that encourage me and love me! I love you, too! and one last thing for all: be true, be passionate! – thanks!

Learn more about Chrischa here.

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