Roland Fischer

Roland Fischer’sphotographic works (*1958, Sarrebruck, Germany) are generally grouped in thematic series. Besides his portraits (Nuns and Monks, 1984-86, Pool Portraits,1983-93 and 2007, Collective Portraits, 1998-), the German artist has also photographed architecture (Cathedrals, 1998-, New Architectures, 2005-, Façades, 2002-) in which, through the superimposition of internal and external views, or through the precise framing of details, he creates works whose formal language borders on the abstract. Fischer’s approach to the human figure reflects the same pared-back language. In his series L.A. Portraits (1989-1993), the faces of men and women of various ages and backgrounds stand out against plain monochrome water backgrounds of the most intense blue. The scale of each image reinforces the physical presence of the person photographed. For Fischer, his photographs are intended as conceptual works in that the image maintains an ambiguous relationship with its content, to quote the artist, “the contrast between the almost mathematical character of the photograph’s surface and the natural form of the human face”.