Internationally acclaimed Berlin photographer Sven Marquardt will present his work in Australia for the first time at Newport’s Substation this month.
His exhibition, titled Fotografien, opens on April 28 with a one-hour talk by Marquardt and runs until May 31.
Marquardt, born in 1962, started his photography career in East Berlin in the early 1980s.
For 20 years he was also a well-known bouncer at the Berghain techno club, a job he said both influenced and shaped his photography,
“It’s just like how the punk and new wave influenced the 80s music in East Berlin – neither a divided city nor the dictatorship could prevent that,” he said.
“It was our attitude towards life, even though it was only within a small ‘scene’.
“We felt some sort of ‘freedom within borders’.
“Scene’ always means to me that you can be autonomous. It has risen from a sort of counter-culture.
“My first photographs were the results of this counterculture.
“Although Berghain is a club, it is also a place where a large number of artists come together.
“It is both a source and a place where you can grow.
“Many things flow together there. Sometimes I wonder whether it was a similar vibe in the legendary Studio 54.”
Marquardt said he would not be doing any photography while in Australia.
“I don’t even take a camera with me when I’m travelling,” he said.
“I try to take an unfiltered look at everything and experience with all my senses. I can’t understand people, who always put an iPhone between themselves and the things they see. I’m not a documental but a conceptual photographer.”
