Interview: Ebby Hauser
Luca Curci talks with Ebby Hauser during CONSCIOUSNESS, second appointment of ANIMA MUNDI 2024, at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello.

Ebby Hauser’s work has already been shown in numerous exhibitions at major venues in Germany and Europe. He lives on a mountain pasture in the Allgäu Alps and in Augsburg. He is a Board member of BBK, the Professional Association of Visual Artists, initiated the ‘Zeitsicht Art Award’ (www.zeitsicht.info) and is known for various other curatorial activities.

Luca Curci – According to you, what makes a good photo? Which details do you focus on?
Ebby Hauser – A good photo attracts attention and connects creatively with the emotional and mental world of the viewer. The image detail, foreground and background as well as the colour design play a major role here. In portraits, it can be the eyes that receive special focus or the texture of the skin or special, often little-noticed details such as the neck or the hairline.

LC – When you take photos, are you usually inspired by the situation or do you find inspiration in yourself?
EH – It’s a genuine co-creation: a certain situation gives rise to an image that continues to develop in my mind’s eye. Sometimes I take a quick photo that makes me think and reflect later when I look at it. Further photos then develop from this, in which I try out variations. Little by little, my visual language sharpens and with it the potential effect that the image can have on the viewer.

LC – Is there an unrealised or unrealisable project, even a crazy one, that you would like to work on?
EH – Yes, I would like to develop a photo series around social stereotypes, showing how often people make hasty judgements – but that’s artistically challenging. Before I focused professionally on photography, as an academic psychologist I often came up against a wall when working with clients, when their prejudices and judgements restricted their view of a situation or a decision. The visual arts open there different and often surprising doors. But – as I said – challenging to realise.

LC – What are the three hashtags essential to define your poetics that you could not give up?
EH – #authentic, #emotional, #surprising

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
EH – Most likely when I’m travelling by myself and I succeed to have an intuitive understanding of the world around me. In the spirit of the German sociologist and philosopher Hartmut Rosa, who described this as a state of resonance: I resonate with my surroundings, allow this resonance to change my perspective and thus gain an expanded view of the reality around me. The best photos are often taken in this state.

LC – Your last artistic production attracted us, has the artwork presented been created for the exhibition or as a part of preexisting works?
EH – All three photographs are part of a series entitled Comfort Zones – but they were arranged especially for this exhibition. Every picture shows a view from the inside to the outside, from a safe place to a vastness that is not easy to assess – but which nevertheless exudes a fascination and a longing. I have tried to visualise the fragile moment between the need for security and the desire for adventure. 

LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the exhibition? What do you think about ITSLIQUID Platform?
EH – It is a great place to offer a particularly art-loving audience with very different perspectives on the current state of our world. The exhibition title Consciousness summed it up very well.
 
LC – What do you think about the organization of our event?
EH – It’s my first cooperation with your team and it was a very reliable and professional way of working together. The specialists at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello were extremely helpful and courteous. And I was amazed at how professional the logistics were. Very few artists, like me, have been able to bring their work to Venice in person.

Image courtesy of Ebby Hauser

Image courtesy of Ebby Hauser

Image courtesy of Ebby Hauser

Image courtesy of Ebby Hauser

Image courtesy of Ebby Hauser