A selection of photos by crosslens
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red concrete example (2011)
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waiting zone (2009)
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room with view (2010)
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displacement (2009)
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castle lines (2011)
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emergency exit (2010)
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toilet paper alarm (2011)
– Hello Ralf. How would you describe this set of images?
– My first intention was: oh, a lot of red squares and rectangles – Red square gallery, the name says it all. On the second view I made an interesting discovery: when I made these photos it was not the red that attracted my attention but the play of the lines, the space and the dots in these photos. The red was an add-on that caused the balance weight of the composition. With another color I’m sure I would have composed and balanced some of these photos in another way. It’s a feeling that I cannot describe with rules: when I see a motif and I want to convey it in the 2:3-Format of my camera I try to find a balance that is formed by structures and colors. Each of these elements has his own weight that will balance the scale.
– As a photographer, what do you find interesting about urban environments and architecture? What usually attracts your visual attention?
– I think my urban environments and architecture are often stringently geometric. I love the precise and straight lines and the (a)symmetry of modern architecture– and the break of these lines and (a)symmetry. It reminds me an excursion to a city in Germany that is famous for its old buildings from the 14th century. I entered the inner city, saw all these old buckled and crooked buildings and my first question was: and where is here the quarter with modern architecture?
What attracts my attention? Lines, lines and lines – and the interaction of these lines that can make geometric structures. Light, light and light – and the interaction of the light that makes shadows and colors.
– Which other photographic styles do you like besides architectural and urban photography?
– I love modern architecture, but I also love the nature and sometimes I spend weeks in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woods, lakes and grassland. I take hundreds of photos just from the trees, the light on the trees, between the trees, from the landscapes and the clouds, the plants and the meadows.
In the city I find my nature in the botanical garden where I can pass hours lying on the floor and making macro photos of colorful plants. I replace the strict large geometry of the architecture with the liberty of forms of small flowers. Not to forget: I love minimalism, the reduction of things to nearly nothing.
– What motivates you to be busy with photography, what is your goal as a photographer?
– The beginning was a great mistake: I’m a programmer and I wanted to leave the monitor and to go out. But digital photography calls for coming back to “develop” these photos – and I’ve to pass again a good dose of time in front of a Monitor. I try to find and to photograph the nature of the things, the nature of my motif. I want to achieve that the beholder finds out that beauty can be everywhere, in the small as in the large, in the things made by humans as in the things made by the nature. Sometimes it depends just on the point of view.
– Do you have a ‘dream location’, where would you like to take photos?
– There are surely some places where the concentration of structures that I like is very, very high. But as a binge can have enough painful side-effects I prefer to discover a location for a long time. As I learned here in Hamburg that I can still discover new motifs, the dream location is where I am in the moment I’m making the photo.
– What is your favorite camera?
– The camera that I’m able to adjust. It’s not the camera which makes the photo – it’s the photographer. I know what I want to catch how and I just need a camera that can do that and the knowledge how I can do that with this camera. But I’ve some favorite lenses: my macro and my wide angle.
– Did you publish any photo books and where do you expose your works on internet?
– I’ve never published any photo books, I’m too lazy. It would mean that I’ve to pass again more time in front of a monitor after my work and the developing of my photos. I’ve my own photo-website that I didn’t update since years and I’m the webmaster of a photo group where some of my photos are posted. Flickr that is like my diary for photography. It’s quick an easy. But I’ve to say that I’m not a “good” community member – because it would cause that I pass again more time in front of a computer.
– Thank you very much, Ralf.
red square gallery 
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