The Garden of Ninfa, Lazio, Italy 1997 Photograph

Matthias Leupold was born in 1959 in Berlin and lives and works in Berlin. He is professor of Photography at the University of Applied Sciences Europe Berlin. Since 2012 he has realized several documentaries in Vietnam, Lebanon, Albania and Switzerland. Artist Statement Staged photography is a tool to realize my artistic intentions. The technical medium photography allows to either fixate or transform past, present or already enunciated situations. Concerning that, my photography envelops many different historical aspects: the reflection of present happenings and the re-staging of historical references. Actors and models are placed in various landscapes or urban ex- and interiors, which I interpret to be "playgrounds" or stages for my photography. My inspiration is fed by the "outrageous occurence", the genius loci and by the observation of human interaction. Subject matters such as loneliness, vulnerability, injury and dissipation are taken on in tableaus or single photographs. The fundamentals of Leupold's artistic photographics works In his photographic series, Leupold investigates the manifestation and the social ties of various picture groups. "Appearance and being, realism and illusion become conceptually mixed up for the viewer. What should he believe? What is considered acceptable?" This quote by the german publicist Enno Kaufhold displays the diversity of Leupolds artistic creations, which are thematically tied to the german politcal system of the twentieth century. In particular, the differences between the social and art worlds of the GDR and the FRG.