The picture is first of all a visual event, and the realm between perception and recognition leaves plenty of room for our own projections. The Berlin-based artist Oliver Krebs dedicates himself to exploring these projections. In Signal & Noise, he shares his work with us. His pictorial approach is concerned with the search for hidden aspects beyond appearances, for verities behind the likeness. In this respect, Oliver Krebs regards his creative practice as artistic research.

The specific characteristics of the photographic image form the basis for his works. It is conspicuous how our view of the motifs in the pictures is disturbed. Whereby “disturbed” is not really the right word here. Rather, the ostensible disturbances – reflections, shadows, and light reflexes – are the actual subject. The quintessence of the images lies in the intrinsic visual value of these phenomena. The photographs are conceived in terms of visual impact. This interplay is what makes this type of street photography so unique. In this way, Oliver Krebs unfurls perceptual spaces that break with the usual narrative strategy of photography. The images instead create an associative space in which they stand only for themselves. Their self-representation divulges secrets that go beyond them and are revealed in the photograph. This makes them decidedly contemporary photographs.

Oliver Krebs is one of the few protagonists of street photography who one could describe as being both subjective and conceptual.
In Signal & Noise, his struggle for the photographic image beyond the centered view becomes manifest.
With his roots in painting, he conceives the image as such from a new perspective. If the motif is the »signal,« then the Berlin based photographer is interested in the »noise« that overlays this signal. Time and again, his images appear to dissolve themselves, pictorial layers become interwoven, and the viewer is ultimately introduced to a new form of photography.

Oliver Krebs searches for, indeed researches, images: It is thus only logical that he juxtaposes his photographs with text fragments from the great explorers of the 19th century. A dialog from which we can learn a great deal about our own searching and seeing.

Vita

1989-1994 Studies of Fine Arts, painting with Per Kirkeby at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main and graduated as a master in Georg Herold’s sculpture class. Since 1994 freelance producer in advertising, cinema and TV film productions.
www.oliverkrebs.net

Book Reviews

Book review by Frank Dietschreit, kulturradio (in German)

Visit the website of Oliver Krebs | Kehrer Verlag

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