Interview: Anita Schiedeck
Luca Curci talks with Anita Schiedeck during the 16th Edition of VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2022, at Palazzo Bembo.

She is a German by birth and a self-taught photographer. She’s been photographing for about 45 years, first analogue, later digital, although she has been working analogue again for some time. She likes to look behind the scenes and discover small moments, things that are half-hidden, and things that are visible but often go unnoticed. She prefers a clear structure of shapes and colours, not always following the golden ratio or the rule of thirds. She likes to travel and get inspired by different landscapes, architecture, art and cultures. Most of her photos are in colour, but sometimes she also works with black and white. And black and white are becoming more and more one of her favourite subjects. Black and white photography is the essence of photography. With black and white you can strengthen the image statement, condense content and convey a lasting impression. Minimalism and reduction in the choice of subject characterise the expressiveness of black-and-white photography. She’s not represented in social media, pictures can be seen on her homepage (www.asphotos.de).

Luca Curci – What is art for you?
Anita Schiedeck – The quote attributed to Karl Valentin: “Art is beautiful, but makes a lot of work” says it all. For me, art is beautiful and has no further purpose to pursue. From time to time I want to point things out and make visible things that partly elude perception.

LC – What are you currently working on?
AS – I work on different things in parallel. At the moment I am pursuing the goal of photographing more serially and sequentially. Harald Mante is my great role model. Besides that, I want to shoot more tabletop and still life. I started doing this more out of boredom during the unspeakable lockdown. The picture “Star” is one of these. Not to forget the cyanotype. I find the blue of the cyanotype so profound and beautiful.

LC – According to you, what makes a good photo? Which details do you focus on?
AS – A good photograph is largely self-evident, timeless and coherent.

LC – How is being an artist nowadays?
AS – Undoubtedly interesting, the internet also makes it possible to share art with large circles. At the same time, not least through social media, there is an oversized offer and a certain oversaturation is simply taking place.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
AS – Now, with digital photography, it is sometimes difficult to make the right choice of photos. In the past, with analogue photography, you had to pay much more attention to the composition of the image, because the film was expensive. Less is sometimes more.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the exhibition’s theme?
AS – Unfortunately, I didn’t see the exhibition, so I can’t say anything about it, only about
my own pictures.

LC – Can you explain something about the artworks you have in our exhibition?
AS – All my presented works have to do with architecture and the surrounding landscape. When I took the picture of the destroyer “Mölders”, I could not have imagined that war would be so present in Europe again. The picture with the blast is one of a sequence, from the blast to the complete fall and the cloud of dust afterwards. One architecture gives way to another. The picture “Closed” is a door on a completely unspectacular fisherman’s cottage, one of many, on a small pebble beach in Spain. The door is a popular motif because of its beautiful blue colour and of course because of its unusual shape. But I like it best in black and white.