Interview
Kathrin Kolbow
Kathrin Kolbow was born in 1987 in Germany. She studied photography at Fotoakademie-Koeln. In Kathrin’s artistic works you often find yourself in the gray areas of human existence and the strange worlds of fantasy. The photographic focus here is on the subliminal conveyance of information and feeling. In this way, far from commercial influences, the photographer creates visual worlds whose themes often deal with things for which there are rarely the right words. Her recent exhibitions include: Self-Portrait Exhibition at Decode Gallery (2023); Exhibition at Haute Photographie in Amsterdam (2023); Fresh Eyes Talent at GUP Magazine (2023); among others. She received the first place at Bruxelles Art Vue Winter Prize (2023). She was featured in the publication of Artmagazine turtle magazin(e) Issue 4: körperlich.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I was born in 1987 in Germany into a rather creative family. My mother was a gifted woman, that always had those creative solutions for everything. My grandmother was a passionate knitter, who knitted and crocheted as if her life depended on it. And my dad’s favorite line is “You can craft this by yourself!”. So yeah, my creativity might be passed down to me. I do remember, that I always collected those postcards that were handed out for free in stores as advertisement for products or exhibitions and stuff like that. Mostly, those were little pieces of art themselves to me. I took them home and created a big beautiful wall in my room where I pinned them and rearranged them into little groups that would tell a unique story. I was low on money, so that was a great way to get inspired. I guess I was around 8 or 9 years old, when I took my first real photographs. My mother and a friend of ours got lost in Amsterdam and we couldn´t find a way back to the bus stop we were supposed to be at a specific time. As they frantically ran through Amsterdam, I followed them, a cheap camera in my hands, taking pictures. But it took me another 15 years to realize, what a powerful language photography is. And with my first day at Fotoakademie-Koeln, I finally found what I am here for. I graduated in 2012 and since then I´m on my way to get my inside worlds into the outside atmosphere.”
What inspires you?
“Life, death, and all the in-betweens and beyond. Basically the big questions, to which we hopefully never get solid answers to. The human mind is a wonderful mysterious thing. How we feel and think, how we maneuver through and within our lives and how we influence our surroundings by doing so. I’m mostly inspired by feelings, I guess, and by reactions, that follow certain circumstances.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“Mostly, my work is about the darker sides of life. I love the outsiders, the ones on the edge, that seldomly get the spotlight. May it be stories or emotions, people or places. I´m drawn to the ones with the voices that are rarely heard in all their desprate beauty. The connection between art and psychology fascinates me the most. How a piece of art, be it a painting, a sculpture, music, a play or a preformance. Or, like in my case, a photograph can tell you a whole story without the need of a single word – like a soul that connects and comunicates to another. And if I have to emphasize one underlying message that ties all of my work together, it's that life is different outside of your bubble. Even if you don´t fully understand it, it is still worth a look. Who knows what you may find.”
“The human mind is a wonderful mysterious thing. How we feel and think, how we maneuver through and within our lives and how we influence our surroundings by doing so. I’m mostly inspired by feelings.”
How would you describe your work?
“A mostly dark and chaotic window inside my inner self and my different take on the world.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Shortly said, the ones that hurt. Like David Nebreda, Francesca Woodman or Antoine D’Agata. The ones with a unique and in their own way tragic view on life and existence.”
What is your creative process like?
“Well, that depends on the kind of project I want to do. If it is a bigger, more planned series of pictures it takes me a few weeks or months to sketch everything out. It all starts with an idea of what I want too tell through the pictures. This can be just a vague feeling or a special theme I want to talk about, that fills my head with pictures – they just suddenly pop in. I will grab my sketchbook and start scribbling some rough sketches that are usually combined with a lot of written notes, to outline the whole story and how I want to tell it. I usually have a hand full of key-pictures in my head, that I draw a bit more detailed. Then, I go into research. Searching for models, locations and probs. Usually, I try to craft as many probs as possible by myself. So my ways often lead me into DIY-Markets and craft stores. I love fiddling on stuff and just make it come into reality. When the preparation phase is done and I am happy with everything, I start shooting, with the goal to end up with pictures that are close as possible to the ones I have in mind. After achieving that, I allow myself to play around a bit. I might end up changing everything, from probs to location to composition to lightning. And sometimes I end up with a better picture than the one I planned out in detail. What follows is a whole lot of coffee and some hours on the pc with post-production. Then again, I´ve done whole projects without a plan beforehand. In those cases I just grab my camera and see what happens. This way it´s usually about the mood or feeling I´m in, which translates into my photography without the thinking process in-between.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist’s role in society will always to be the observer. The one that won´t look away, the one that collects the invisible vibrations that whole opinions and movements are build on. And then, the art itself will open up spaces, in which a bigger discussion about society itself can emerge. Like a mirror with an uncanny hidden room inside, that reflects the state of society, but also adds in criticism, a different perspective or approach within the bigger picture. I don´t see that ever changing. With all the crisis and oppression the world is confronted nowadays, it just becomes more relevant to open up a save spot of understanding and curiosity, especially for those that are threatened by a society, that values uniformity more than individuality and the freedom to be, who you truly are. Therefore the art itself frees the artist equally, as it frees the ones that are drawn to it.”
Website: www.derdarkroom.com
Instagram: @derdarkroom
