Guido Klumpe’s work moves between street and abstract architectural photography. The artist is drawn to functional places that people only visit for short periods of time – train stations, shopping centres and garages. These are buildings Individuals pass through on their way to other destinations and are often overlooked. Klumpe reveals aesthetic beauty and poetry in these banal and everyday spots. The minimal images reduce the bustle and chaos of the urban environment to its fundamental elements. Viewers are offered snapshots of angles, shapes and textures, left to imagine the wider scene beyond the lens. The bold primary colours, often set against brilliant, cloudless blue skies, create a sense of joy and playfulness not commonly associated with busy cityscapes.
Klumpe has been severely visually impaired since birth. He is blind in the left eye and only has 25 percent vision in the right. The artist explains: “I live in a simulated three-dimensionality, so to speak. My nerves only transmit a small amount of information, resulting in a kind of data compression which makes vision flat.” This way of seeing the world translates into the images. Klumpe added: “I process this experience of puzzlement in my work and make it accessible to the viewer with abstract architectural photographs.”
All images courtesy of the artist.
