Marc Volk

The Beauty of the Subjective
 
Perception and the subjective experience are at the center of Marc Volk’s work. The spectrum of his work is broad and varied because Volk enjoys experimenting with opposing extremes. Conventional landscape photographs and nocturnal city scenes are contrasted with images of sun-filled holiday paradises and abstract close-ups of a nude. Volk’s photographs provide subjective commentaries and sensuous observations, as well as humorous inquiries, in which the focus is always on man and his relationship to his environment. The collection of candy-colored beach umbrellas and small groups of people standing in front of a surreal, pale blue sea resembles a scene from a Playmobile catalog. In "Leisure II" the contrast between the fascinating natural backdrop and the dispassionate curiosity of the holidaymakers looking on could not be greater. Indeed, at first glance the apparent artificiality of the scene is confusing. This artificiality and disconcertion stems less from the photograph itself, an analog creation, and more from the setting where people search for relaxation and distance from everyday life. From the distance of this elevated viewpoint the photographer presents what seems like a toy world. The people, positioned in this context, take on the role of mere extras. The motivation in Marc Volk’s artistic work is derived from his desire to make an experience of the world through newfound details comprehensible. First, he formally selects his details through the viewfinder of the camera. Instead of imitating the expanse of the Australian landscape in a horizontal form, he represents it in an extreme vertical format, which appears as though it has been directly shot from his feet, thus bringing the viewer close up and making the scene tangible. The impression of an unending expanse is adjusted through hints of the distance - the physical realization of the distance enabling an approximate evaluation of the expanse.  In other works he selects his details differently, concentrating on new ideas and choosing night instead of day. Volk’s preference is to photograph at night, because darkness acts as a reducer. Photographs of nocturnal cityscapes with their net of unfurling lights as in "Berlin Panorama," or soaring glowing windows, play with the possibility of an abstract comprehension. The photographer hopes to retain a sense of puzzlement and ambiguity, despite recognition of the subject.
 
Experimentation and Experience
 
It was with the series of nocturnal photographs "Out of the Darkness" that Volk, a graduate of Essen University, first attracted attention. His diploma project, which was developed between 1996 and 1998, took him on a journey around the world. Things that he tested out in the metropolises of South America and Asia, in particular Hong Kong, he also employed in Germany. Thus, we see the moon over Caracas ("Darkness III") or the window of a house in Essen shining mysteriously out of the darkness ("Darkness III"). Yet, the city lights, which are reflected by the mist or smog behind the house, result in a new effect: it is no longer the artistic dabs of color, hanging in nothingness, which catch our attention, but the house itself. The house, largely invisible in other scenes, emerges as a glimmering skeleton out of the smoldering haze. Such uncertainty and distortion are also found in the untitled photographs of a nude, Untitled I-III. These photographs which initially appear as an abstract mass of color gradually take on form with time. A collarbone, a bellybutton and a spine rise out of the mass of colors as weak forms. Volk’s experiments with different types of film and cameras, in this case a Polaroid, are certainly far from being exhausted. Subjectivity plays a central role in the work of Volk. While parallels to the work of contemporary star German photographers of the Düsseldorf school are evident, Volk’s work revolves around a greater authenticity of an individual experience. His approach is more that of an investigator and an interpreter. Thus, rather than Volk undertaking a search for concrete images, it is frequently the motifs themselves which find him. Despite borrowing from graphic and illustrative styles his creative preference remains for the picturesque. This is illustrated above all in his night photographs. Marc Volk is a representative of a form of art, which is boldly offering beauty and a sensuous, clear narrative as an alternative to the inelegant aesthetic of Anti-Art.
 
New works - Meanwhile
 
One possible definition of chaos is simultaneity.  Precise observances are always only possible in one place and at one time. However, the complexity of the world is marked by the fact that everything takes place at the same time making this precise observance elusive.  Photography has the ability to transform the chaos of simultaneity into coexistence.  Simultaneously created photos can be brought together for peaceful contemplation.  Photography also helps us expand our perceptions, enriching our views of the world.    Public spaces, by virtue of their size and bustle, offer metaphors on the chaos of the world.  From an elevated perspective, Marc Volk (*1967) crafts an overview, which serves as the raw material for his extracted augmentations.  They show different situations that in no way happened simultaneously and whose coexistence is first realized through the photography.  The distinct traces of digital manipulation back up the idea of a constructed reality.
 

Expositions (Sélection)

Livres / Catalogues (Sélection)

Ränder/Rauschen , Mark Volk, Berlin 2004
Konkrete Fotografie, Gottfried Jäger, Rolf H.Krauss, Beate Reese, Bielefeld 2005
 

Essais / Articles (Sélection)

Zeitgenössische Deutsche Fotografie Stipendiaten der Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, Steidl 2003
Marc Volk, Aus der Dunkelheit, Edition J. J. Heckenhauer 2002