TITLE: Geist

In human access to nature and its pictorial representation, there is a fine line between life and death. From magical incantations in Stone Age caves to the scientific analysis of modern times, the relationship between people and their environment remains in a limbo, between powerlessness and omnipotence. Michael Koch examines the fragile balance in a subtle reflection of its representative means. His photographic incarnations, which were taken in museums of natural history across Europe between 2012 and 2020 and his studio alike, play on the one hand with the different modes of staging specimens and on the other hand with the tradition of scientific photography. The result shows up as a mysterious "reanimation", evidently dead things appear alive again. This disturbing form of simultaneity is more than an aesthetic characteristic of Michael Koch's art.

AUTHOR: Michael Koch (Germany)

Michael Koch was born 1973 in Braunschweig, he lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
He studied communication design, art and photography and history of photography in Essen,
at Folkwang University, from 1998 to 2004 (Diploma). His photographic work is exhibited internationally.