‘The Distance Between Us‘
Photography/Text: Christopher Capozziello / Design: Christopher Capozziello and Lois Lammerhuber.
This is such an unusual and unique photo story: the talented photographer / author has a twin brother, who was born just three minutes after him. His brother is severely disabled but he himself is healthy – a rare case. Chris has made their relationship and his brother’s illness the topic of his photography.
In his eulogy, awards presenter and jury member of the German Photo Book Award, Andreas Langen, had this to say about the book, “Christopher Capozziello has a twin brother called Nick, who has cerebral palsy as a result of lack of oxygen during birth. It means severely impaired movement and uncontrollable cramps in uncontrollable intervals; the cramps can last minutes, hours or days. This fate has bothered Christopher Capozziello since childhood, it has tormented him. Like Job, the desperate man from the Old Testament, he demands clarity about the sense of the trials that life inflicts on us. “I want answers,” is the first, almost threatening, sentence in the book. But who do you want to threaten in the case of something so existential? “I want explanations for why some people suffer and others don’t. I want to know why some are better off and others worse. Is it fate or accident or simply sheer bad luck?” You sense that it is a heavy burden to be the one that got away. Christopher Capozziello tries to shoulder this burden by photographing it: himself and his brother or, as the title says, the distance between them. He complements his brilliant pictures with texts that are just as focused. Then the story reaches an unexpected turning point. In December 2012 Christopher notes, “After all the years, instead of always asking why? I now ask myself for the first time, what next?” Then the brothers go on a big trip together, it’s the first time Nick has been away from home for several weeks, and the sombre, touching, black-and-white epic of suffering and doubt becomes a serene, sometimes colourful, road movie, illustrated with two series of smartphone pictures taken by the two unequal brothers. And so the short biographies of Christopher and Nick at the very end of the book culminate in the identical sentence, ‘Lives in Milford, Connecticut, three miles from his twin brother.’” Well done, boys, congratulations!”
The pictures from the book are currently featured in an exhibition at FREELENS gallery in Hamburg, which opened on 14 November 2013 in the presence of both brothers. You can see the impressive photographs there until 16 January 2014.
Exhibition ‘The Distance Between Us’
FREELENS gallery, Steinhöft 5, 20459 Hamburg
14 November 2013 until 16 January 2014.
Monday – Friday 11.00am – 6.00pm
Info: Peter Lindhorst, Tel. +49 176-57280812
‘Wolfskinder’
Photography: Fabian Weiß / Text: Fabian Weiß and Matthias Witte / Design: Fabian Weiß and Lois Lammerhuber
Fabian Weiß portrays young people and their special life stories within the German youth welfare system, with the expertise, authenticity and sensitivity of a great photographer.
Andreas Langen in his eulogy: “Similar theme, another country – young people in a precarious situation, but now in Germany. We all like to complain, often and with good reasons, about all kinds of German conditions – but just put the books of Igor Samolet and Fabian Weiß next to each other, and you start to realize what the saying ‘lamenting in luxury’ means. Fabian Weiß has caught moments in the biographies of children and young people who live without their families. This separation is partly therapeutic measure, partly the force of circumstances, for instance violence at home. The young people who Fabian Weiß has accompanied in homes and elsewhere, usually are at the far edge of society, often involved in crime, act out and are incapable of leading a normal life. Fabian Weiß has watched patiently and listened, recorded stories and photographed moments. We see awkward everyday life in the home, sunny trips and pause for thought, and we read self-descriptions of the protagonists, in rough speech, stammering, searching, gruff. The result is a carefully constructed, many-layered book – in an appropriately intimate, small format, by the way – that really touches you. And this is exactly what Fabian Weiß, just 26 years young and only starting out on a career as documentary photographer, wants to do, touch us. And he wants to continue his observation of children and young people at the edge of society in other European countries. We wish him success with this endeavour and congratulate him on this splendid debut!”
‘Matthias Cremer – 25 Jahre DER STANDARD‘
Photography: Matthias Cremer / Text: Oscar Bronner, Gregor Auenhammer, Wolfgang Weisgram / Design: Lois Lammerhuber
The book depicts photographs from 25 years of Austrian contemporary history by Matthias Cremer, a master of his generation. The book comes as a limited edition of 1 000 copies.
‘EPHESOS – The Beauty of Destruction’
Photography and design: Lois Lammerhuber / Text: Sabine Ladstätter
Spectacular images and informative texts from the Ephesos head of excavation paint a completely new picture of one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The book mainly focuses on the Ephesos economical status as an antique trading town, modern excavation site and magnet for visitors from around the world.
‘GLAMOUR’
Photography and design: Lois Lammerhuber / Text: Annette Beaufaÿs, Dominique Meyer
The most enchanting book about the magic world of costumes, design and craftsmanship in the ART FOR ART costume workshops in Vienna, of which André Heller says: ‘ART FOR ART – probably the best costume workshops in the world.’
