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2009, Photographic positions and Sculpture, GEHAG Forum, Berlin

Susanne Wehr’s work also confronts the unfamiliar, unnamed, and anonymous. For years she has been building upon an incredibly analytical effort to make some sort of sense of mountains of photographs she seeds through. Buying photos at flea markets, for instance, as well as slides from various estates and sources, she takes these newfound treasures and arranges them into categories and subcategories, selecting individual images, that she subsequently presents in meticulously constructed website.

A selection from the categories “Poses” and “Zaungäste” provides an impression of the variety of uses of the photographic medium. These images shed light on the most popular classes of photos for all those who have ever held a camera in their hands: They reveal the unquenchable human fascination for freezing time as long as possible and capturing all, that we have held dear and beloved, or at least interesting, provocative or collectable.

Everything produced on an assembly line, just like every location which looks like the next and every pose one might all too self-consciously strike – all of these are interchangeable, but then again, they are all ultimately somehow unique. Each is the poignant product of a very individual experience.

Susanne Wehr does not preach and she does not lead us by the nose. She simply uncovers what is already present – even if it might inevitably not survive the digital age. We are talking about the analogue, physical photograph to be caressed in a hand-made photo album or framed as a reminder of our own self assurance.“

Christoph Tannert, GEHAG Forum
Translation Russell Radzinski