克里斯蒂安·图纳尔，《沃利德，木炭商人，埃塞俄比亚》，2011年。碳素喷墨打印，哈内姆勒纸，55cm × 55cm。
Christine Turnauer, Worlid, charcoal merchant, Ethiopia, 2011. Inkjet Coal, pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper, 55cm × 55cm.“My portraits come from an idea, an intuition, a quest, which has led me to search and find, either close-by or further away, human beings who inspired me: geishas in Japan; farmers in Austria and in Greece; Pygmies in the Central African Republic; charcoal merchants in Ethiopia; or nomads in Mongolia.
I am fascinated by the infinite diversity of mankind and, at the same time, this common thread of being human. The uniqueness of each individual—like snowflakes. What I hope for is to capture the inner presence of the person in front of me, not just a simple representation. As Édouard Boubat describes so well: 'there is always an urge when photographing that goes beyond mere intellectual curiosity.' He calls it 'coup de foudre' (being thunderstruck), a way to describe falling in love.
When taking portraits, I only use daylight for the atmosphere, and I look for a neutral background for less distraction. Only eighty centimetres separate me from my sitter; almost face to face. Now all my awareness is challenged—a bit like a free climber.
In life we are caught in our dreams of the future and memories of the past. Only when 'something' forces us to be acutely attentive do we escape this linear perception of time, and we experience the present moment more intensely. Photography is able to grasp these moments.
It is amazing when at the end of the whole process of developing, printing, selecting among hundreds of possibilities, you end up with a piece of paper—a print—and the person is right there— PRESENT.”
Text/Christine Turnauer