Workshop: Gideon Mendel, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt

THE ANTI-STILL-LIFE

Saturday/Sunday, July 21/22, 2018, 10am–6pm

This workshop will focus on the depiction of objects, materiality, memory and history in direct relationship with photographer Gideon Mendel’s family history close to Frankfurt: Mendel’s paternal grandfather died fighting for Germany in the First World War and his paternal grandmother died in the Holocaust. Participants will be asked to bring a variety of items (these could be documents, objects, even non-physical like anecdotes) relating to their own family histories specifically focused on the first and second world wars. The collaborative engagement with Mendel will focus on visual responses to these items – and an interrogation of how they might be depicted photographically. In essence, an “anti-still-life” and deeply personal process is anticipated. This will be an active hands-on workshop with a conceptual overlay consisting of a series of individual and group feedback sessions. All participants are asked to bring digital cameras and laptops to allow for rapid experimentation and assessment of work.

Gideon Mendel’s intimate style of image-making and long-term commitment to socially engaged projects has earned him international acclaim. Born in Johannesburg in 1959, Mendel established his career with his searing photographs of the final years of apartheid. In 1991 he moved to London, and continued to respond to global issues, especially HIV/AIDS. Since 2007, Mendel has been working on Drowning World, an art and advocacy project about flooding that is his personal response to climate change. Solo shows of Drowning World have been shown at many galleries and public installations around the world, most recently at Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles. During 2016, Mendel received the inaugural Jackson Pollock Prize for Creativity and the Greenpeace Photo Award. Shortlisted for the Prix Pictet in 2015, he has also received the Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, the Amnesty International Media Award and six World Press awards.

More information can be found here. 

Fotografie Forum Frankfurt

Braubachstraße 30―32, 60311 Frankfurt

Opening Hours
Tue: 11am—6pm
Wed: 11am—8pm
Thu—Sun: 11am—6pm

Contact
T +49 (0) 69 29 17 26
F +49 (0) 69 28 639
contact@fffrankfurt.org
www.fffrankfurt.org