Two Styles in Photography – Katja Richter and Wilfried Gohsens

Inspired by different poetics, but connected through their shared interest to explore various techniques, two distinct photographers, Katja Richter and Wilfried Gohsens, will share a booth at the upcoming Discovery Art Fair Cologne in June 2021. Looking at their individual approaches, we are invited to contemplate contemporary photographic approaches and compare the common grounds of the two creators.
Richter’s and Gohsens’ presentation will allow visitors to enjoy their latest work, but also to find inspiration in their thought-provoking pieces that bear particular social, personal, and artistic commentary.

Katja Richter

Exploring society through the ages, Katja Richter created a moving series of photographs entitled “Kraftwerke”. With the final cycle emerging during the coronavirus pandemic, these bright, energetic landscapes depict distant images of German power plants, juxtaposed one over the other, often leaving just the shape painted by the blue of the sky. These surreal, disappearing power stations are composed with the use of traditional photo techniques, while their multiple exposures form a counterpart to the usual digital composing. Free of human figures, they give out a feeling of desolation and imminent danger. The final works are digital prints created with classical means, traditional photographs presented in a modern way.
Throughout the series, Katja Richter challenges us to think about energy sources and transition, structural changes, and sociopolitical issues prompted by climate change.

Wilfried Gohsens

With his large-scale black and white photographs, Wilfried Gohsens explores a philosophical approach, questioning the essence of things by visual means. Using photographic techniques and their variations, he strives to make the essence tangible showing a particular poetic of objects. Suggesting that the only real thing in pictures is not what you can see, but feel, Wilfried Gohsens enters the realm of contemporary expressionism delivered through abstract photography. Using familiar subjects, such as Thonet chairs, he delves behind the meaning of their image, their form, and their use, and studies their effect and emotional imprint. His visual language is bold and effective, achieved by panchromatic photography and classic darkroom techniques.

Two Distinct Photographic Voices

Teaming up for the upcoming Discovery Art Fair, Cologne-based photographers Katja Richter and Wilfried Gohsens will present their unique voices alongside each other. Although they share an abstract manner in the treatment of their subjects, they represent two distinct expressions in contemporary photo art, each with their own language and message. Combined, they encourage us to contemplate our reality, both in our surroundings and within ourselves.

On view at the Discovery Art Fair Cologne, 24-27 June 2021.

Featured image: Katja Richter – Kraftwerk 13, Zyklus 1, 2017. ©KatjaRichter. All images courtesy of the artists.