Interview
Thorsten Ritzmann
Thorsten was born and raised in a middle-class row house in Hamburg-Langenhorn, Germany. When he was 12, his dad gave him a Voigtländer Prominent viewfinder camera and three cartridges of Ilford Black and White film. And since then, photography has never left him. He studied social economics at the 'Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Politik Hamburg' until 1998. Until 1999, he was the editor of the university newspaper of the 'Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Politik Hamburg'. From 1996 until 1999, he did photo work with Jens Peter 'Rosie' Rosendahl/ Atelier Jim Rakete. From 2000 until 2012, he was the owner of the international photo agency 'FotoPresseAgentur Ritzmann'. From 2003 until 2011, he was the chief photographer of the daily newspaper 'NordWestZeitung' in Oldenburg. Since 2008, he is a lecturer for artistic photography at the art school 'Werkschule Oldenburg'. From 2012 until 2016, he was a lecturer for photography at the Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven/OL/Elsfleth. In 2017, he was accepted as permanent member of the photo agency 'Lensculture', Amsterdam.
Since 2020, he is represented by the gallery 'Balthasart', Paris. Since 2023, he is also represented by the online gallery 'Artmajeur', Montpellier. His past exhibitions include: Ausstellungsbeteiligung "Leistungsschau Fotografie", Galerie der Werkschule in Oldenburg (2016); Einzel-Ausstellung "Gelegentliche Orte" , Galerie der Werkschule in Oldenburg (2017); Aufnahme als festes Mitglied bei Lensculture, Amsterdam (2017); Ausstellung "Städte in Europa" im Rahmen des "The Hidden Art Project", Oldenburg (2020); Aufnahme als Künstler in der Galerie Balthasart, Paris (2020); Ausstellungsbeteiligung "Der Geschmack von Wundern" , im PFL Oldenburg (2023); The Stage Gallery, Bonn. Ausstellungsbeteiligung. “Bonner Herbst Salon” (2023); “The Expo Metro New York.” Ausstellungsbeitrag ‘MONT SAINT MICHEL WITH MEADOWS AND AUDIENCE‘. Time Square, New York (2023).
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I was born and grew up in a middle-class terraced house in Hamburg-Langenhorn in Germany, when people still drove wobbly dumbbells around on the parcel shelf of their cars. At the age of 12, my dad gave me the Voigtländer Prominent viewfinder camera that his father had already used, gave me three cartridges of Ilford Black and White film to go with it, and since that moment photography has never let me go. While studying at the University of Economics and Politics in Hamburg, I met Jens Peter 'Rosie' Rosendahl, who worked as an assistant at Jim Rakete. We worked together for a while until I embarked on my own independent photography venture. Later, I took over the post of chief photographer for the 'NordWestZeitung' in Oldenburg, founded an international photo agency, became a lecturer at the Jade University of Applied Sciences in Wilhelmshaven and taught artistic photography at the art school 'Die Werkschule' in Oldenburg.”
What inspires you?
“In a dynamic mix of cubism, impressionism and futurism, my work is a fast-paced adventure that generates time and space into a whole. It goes as much to the most seen places in Europe as to the occasional places that very few see. I seek the magical play of optical depth and spectacular perspective. I walk through my subjects, breaking them down into many individual shots, only to reassemble them later in a multi-layered way, into a new and unusual aesthetic. Dozens of individual shots are put together to form a picture sandwich. I want to enthrall, inspire, take the viewer away to a vibrant kiosk on the Belgian border, a Mont Saint Michel besieged by crowds of people or a wide awake Amsterdam celebrating the weekend with its inhabitants.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“It is a deliberate deconstruction and re-creation of the big picture, of the moment. My motifs appear familiar at first glance, but a closer look reveals the finely assembled individual parts that give the famous and unknown places an entirely new rhythm. This new view of the world is virtually split, kaleidoscope-like, into several overlapping fragments. This way of seeing focuses and defocuses at the same time. In my work, the whole has mysteriously and magically travelled further than the fragments captured by the camera. The whole is composed partly of the remembered, partly of the imagined - in the same way that we are used to seeing.”
“My motifs appear familiar at first glance, but a closer look reveals the finely assembled individual parts that give the famous and unknown places an entirely new rhythm.”
How would you describe your work?
“I create images that exude familiarity, but whose ephemerality creates a new visual experience that focuses on the collective imagery.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Jim Rakete, Pep Ventosa, Alfonso Zubiaga, Dali, Robert Doisneau and Wim Wenders.”
What is your creative process like?
“For most of the motifs I have to travel. Therefore, I choose each motif carefully beforehand. I determine the best position for photographing well in advance using Google Maps and others. Since I need walking distances to photograph my series and I have to consider the position of the sun's path, not all motifs or locations come into question. I decide on the composition and length of the series beforehand, and have a fixed storyboard for the shots. On location, I usually make hand sketches that show the essence of the composition.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Being an artist is a holistic task. On the one hand, one is a storyteller, a wanderer between worlds, and on the other, a craftsman. With his gaze and his craftsmanship, the artist narrates his own unique moments of a real environment, which he prepares in his language for society in general.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“One of the exhibitions that best represented my work was the participation in the Hidden Art Project in Oldenburg. My motifs in public space inspired people to talk, to dream, to act. And of course my exhibition DER GESCHMACK VON WUNDERN this year in the Peter Friedrich Ludwig Building in Oldenburg.”
Website: www.ritzmann-fotografie.net
Instagram: @fotograf_thorsten_ritzmann
