Ulli Richter - Photography
- ‘Let’s Play’ at Adonis Art Gallery London -
2 August to 26 August 2005
This show at Adonis Art London marks the first ten years of Fetish Photography in London, Europe and America. Although the word ‘Retrospective’ sounds final and concluded, I regard it as only the arrival at the beginning and my continuing involvement in a fascinating culture.
In a time when actors get paid millions to almost incestuously emerge in different pairings again and again for our ‘entertainment’, when a campaign of globalized dummbing down driven by a high-tech- and image-obsessed fast-food-pop-culture is in the process of successfully devaluing everything, it is the artist’s duty to step back, refocus and return to essentials.
Beneath the surface of a first glance my work is not pornographic but on the contrary Fine Art photography in a documentary context. I feel that on many levels the gay-male-fetish-scene has shown me a degree of community, integrity, respect and most of all reality that I greatly miss in today’s society.
I am aware that this is in itself a contradiction as fetish and fetish play are often associated with dressing up and changing roles. However in a society where everyday disaster, violence and warfare are commonplace, I juxtapose the deceptive force of a fetish scene, where in actual fact everyone finds a safe and consensual ground to live out his fantasies, against the real madness and mayhem of modern everyday life.
In other words, I find the people who are considered society’s margin-walkers much saner and more sincere than the ‘good people’ who disapprove of them.
Coming from a family of alternative practitioners and energy therapists, I have been privileged to experience first hand the power of spirituality and self-belief. Anyone who has ever participated in an SM play scene, felt the relief of total submission, the handing over of control to someone he can trust as well as the intensity of the power play and the energy exchange between two people, will understand that this is a form of spiritual healing and must never be compared to the truly traumatic experience of violent crime and torture.
I draw much of my artistic inspiration from the Greats of the still and moving images. My first contact with this particular style of photography was made when a friend introduced me to the work of Diane Arbus. This was then closely followed by encountering Richard Avedon’s set of haunting images from a mental institution and has taken me through to the more present day and the work of Ellen von Unwerth (Her 'Revenge' series is simply sublime.) as well as the starkly beautiful and perfectly executed portraits by Annie Leibovitz.
Most of my work is influenced by surrealism and its preoccupation with dreams, sex and death. Federico Fellini’s movies inspire me greatly and in particular '8 1/2' which is sinister but beautiful, disturbing yet light and almost frivolous at the same time. I am also fascinated by the work of Terry Gilliam and his masterpiece 'Brazil', which fits this very concept of contradiction perfectly. There are many parallels to the social structure and workings within the organised gay-male-fetish-scene, a scene that exists because an ever-increasing number of people believe in it. The people I have photographed are complex individuals who appear threatening even aloof but are in fact kind, caring and full of passion.
Richard Avedon once said: 'All of (my) images are brought to me by the real people and events of my time.' I strive to capture this particular world around me, a world I am privileged to have become a part of. Not deliberately trying to follow in the footsteps of Robert Mapplethorpe but working on a new style in the world of Fine Art photography that has been referred to as ‘Artcore’, I combine the kinky reality of a subculture with a poetic-symbolic and sometimes humorous approach thereby capturing and preserving the moment for the future.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank all of my friends for their continued support and invaluable advice, in particular Johannes Ziehl, Dafydd Rouse, David Harris and Christoph Knoch. You have given me the strength to carry on and believe in myself against all odds.
I love you, guys!
(Ulli Richter – June 2005)