German Staircase

Hiding or exposing? Open or closed? Those are the questions forming, when looking at this staircase construction. On the one hand the straight cut, precise and sharp, on the other hand the grossly fractured edge: the massive hull seems almost violently broken. Hence it reveals delicate detail of its inside. Yet, the structure is not at all destroyed or damaged, its function is fully preserved. The image is reduced to the absolute essential, the subject freed of any context. Only weak shadows of vegetation, to be found at the lower end, give an indication of the bigger scene.

The fine art photography “German Staircase” presents a form of hidden architecture, which one would not expect in a typical German city, often dominated by medieval structures and dreary post-war sins. Indeed one has to search for it, away from the crowds, and dare a journey of personal discovery. Often it is precisely these supposedly atypical views, far from the clichés, that make a city interesting and enrich its character.