The Photography of Matthias Koch: A Mirror of Our Times
Matthias Koch, a German artist born in 1964, uses photography as a tool to delve into the profound questions of human existence and the world around us. His work, defined by striking black-and-white imagery, transcends mere documentation to become a poetic testament to our era and a poignant reflection on our future.
Koch’s artistic sensibility has been deeply shaped by his experiences living and working in various countries, from Chile to Mexico, Venezuela, and France. These journeys have inspired his exploration of universal themes such as transience, memory, and the passage of time. His photographs, often imbued with a sense of melancholy, invite silent contemplation and confront us with the raw truths of our world.
Far from being limiting, his use of black and white enhances the impact of his images. By stripping away color, Koch sharpens the focus on form, contrast, and emotion. Each photograph becomes a space for reflection, where every detail and symbol challenges us to question the human condition.
Matthias Koch’s photography goes beyond visual art; it is an invitation to reflect, a call to awareness, and a powerful testament to the human condition. Laden with rare expressive strength, his images confront us with our anxieties, responsibilities, and the urgent need to envision a different future.
Matthias Koch, artiste allemand né en 1964, utilise la photographie comme un outil pour explorer les grandes questions de l’existence humaine et du monde qui nous entoure. Son œuvre, caractérisée par des images saisissantes en noir et blanc, transcende la simple documentation pour devenir un témoignage poétique de notre époque et une réflexion poignante sur notre avenir.
La sensibilité artistique de Koch a été profondément marquée par ses expériences de vie et de travail dans divers pays, du Chili au Mexique, en passant par le Venezuela et la France. Ces voyages ont nourri son exploration de thèmes universels tels que l’impermanence, la mémoire et le passage du temps. Ses photographies, souvent empreintes de mélancolie, invitent à une contemplation silencieuse et nous confrontent aux vérités brutes de notre monde.
Loin d’être une limitation, son usage du noir et blanc amplifie l’impact de ses images. En dépouillant ses clichés de la couleur, Koch met davantage l’accent sur les formes, les contrastes et les émotions. Chaque photographie devient un espace de réflexion, où chaque détail et symbole nous pousse à interroger la condition humaine.
La photographie de Matthias Koch dépasse le simple art visuel : c’est une invitation à la réflexion, un appel à la prise de conscience et un témoignage puissant sur la condition humaine. Chargées d’une rare force expressive, ses images nous confrontent à nos angoisses, à nos responsabilités et à l’urgence de concevoir un avenir différent.
Matthias Koch, born in 1964 in Germany
You can find Fine Art Giclée prints, open and limited editions in our shop. Selected photos and stories are available for licensing on visura.
Contact: matthias.koch@pm.me
Book. Figures d'un monde en sursis (fr)
Figures d'un monde en sursis (Figures of a world on borrowed time) sets out to link Matthias Koch's photographs with Claude Molzino's philosophical analysis of them. This "time of the present" as perceived by the photographer's eye is in fact a set of snapshots of the "time of the end" that could be our era. In addition to the nuclearization of the world and the risk it represents for humankind, the over-exploitation of the planet poses an unprecedented threat to the living world.
After reflecting on the specificities of photographic art, the value of "black and white" and photography's relationship with time and reality, Claude Molzino draws primarily on the theses of Roland Barthes, Martin Heidegger and Günther Anders to demonstrate the usefulness of photographic art. Under the philosopher's pen, the latter is aptly seen as a revelation to man of his reprieve, in other words, as a means of alerting him to his responsibility for his own disappearance. At the risk of devastation and annihilation, beyond the historical episode of Hiroshima presented as the prelude to this new "era of humanicide", never, according to Claude Molzino, has "being [been so much] under the threat of non-being".
“Matthias Koch’s photographs have a great strength, an intensity of monstration that cannot leave indifferent to our time and to the world, they cause uneasiness and a diffuse anguish from which one cannot escape because it is indeed reality that is at stake, stripped of all fiction."
Claude Molzino, Philosopher
Print Publications2024 logbook #12019 Unheimlichkeit (Editions du Tanargue), épuisé(L’Harmattan) Claude MolzinoOnline Publications2018 Eschaton, Edge of Humanity2017 Cimarron oder die rettende Flucht, Kwerfeldein2017 Abschied von zu Hause, Kwerfeldein2017 The Hard Decision Of Moving A Family Member To An Alzheimer’s Care Home, Edge of Humanity2017 Nothing stays like it is, Edge of Humanity2016 Eschatologie, Kwerfeldein2016 Metamorphosis oder alles wird gut, Kwerfeldein2016 Paris, Retrospektive 2015, Kwerfeldein2015 Mexikanischer Traum, Kwerfeldein2015 Mexikanischer Traum, Kwerfeldein2015 Transit, Kwerfeldein