Installation view

The Suzy Shammah gallery presents the second exhibition by the German photographer Ingar Krauss (Berlin, GDR, 1965). The exhibition will feature black and white portraits shot by the artist between 2004 and 2006 in different locations and contexts. From the North of Russia (Arkhangelsk) to the countryside outside Berlin (Beelitz), Krauss' photographs create a gallery of faces to which it is difficult to attribute a precise age or location. The photographs are united by the intensity of the artist's gaze and the intimate dialogue, which he weaves with his subjects. A wordless understanding, which creates authentic moments of true intensity.

Close to the culture of the former Soviet Union by education, over the years Krauss has often travelled to Ukraine and Russia, up as far as Arkhangelsk an old town founded by monks in the extreme north of the country. Krauss found there that clearness and hope he was looking for. The inhabitants he met captured him with their serene expression and their hopeful attitude to life. The Arkhangelsk series is the ideal conclusion of the previous works in which the artist had portrayed boys and girls in orphanages and reformatories; it is the point of arrival of a journey towards possible pacification.

His most recent project is set in Beelitz, outside Berlin. There, Krauss photographed seasonal workers coming to Germany from Poland and other Eastern European states for the harvest of asparagus and cucumbers. They are portrayed at the end of the day next to the fields where they were working. The worn-out faces of these men have an almost elegiac quality in front of the objective. The outside condition seems to be worthless and each man expresses the fullness of his identity with a calm and proud attitude. The images delve into the lives of these people, their circumstances and the hardships of their existence.

Untitled (Russia), 2004
gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum
105 x 85 cm 

Untitled (Jakob, Zechin), 2006
gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum
77 x 64 cm

Untitled (Beelitz), 2006
gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum
105 x 85 cm

Untitled (Beelitz), 2006
gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum
105 x 85 cm