Artworks by Uwe Langmann

Uwe Langmann does not simply depict landscapes and people, he interprets them. He uses a classic photographic technique, the long exposure, to make visible what lies beyond the simple snapshot. His photographs become minimalist, almost white monochrome, and resemble watercolor painting.

‘I use more time to decelerate time’, explains Uwe Langmann about his technique. The aperture of the camera is opened longer than usual. ‘Everything that is not still during the recording blurs, disappears or there are only traces left. So the pictures have a much calmer, clearer expression.’

The waves of the sea disappear, as do the lines in the white snow-covered fields. The white looks so perfect because the camera eye perceives it as light. The longer the lens exposes, the more it focuses on the light emitted by each object. This concentration is further enhanced by the positioning of the object in the centre of the image and the division of the images by the horizon line.

Uwe Langmann began his artistic career in 2007 as a director of short and documentary films. After showing one of his short films in 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival, he wanted to make a feature film. In preparation, he shot a series of landscape photos of the locations for the movie and everyone who saw these photos was very touched. The movie was never filmed. Instead, the wonderful series of photos launched his career as a photographer. Since the beginning of 2010 he has devoted himself intensively to photography.

A photo can take up to three years to complete. First comes the idea, and then waiting for the exact weather and light conditions that will achieve the desired result. The great care he uses in the arrangement of his pictures makes the quality of his works. His winter pictures look more like a monochrome application of paint. The large white areas lend the pictures factual silence. Against the background of this calm, the motifs determining the image unfold their own unique poetry: they resemble filigree pencil drawings and tell stories about fences, posts and houses.