Horst Kistner (b. 1969) describes his photographs as “an artificial space within a space.” Every aspect of his images is carefully constructed within a studio, finished without use of Photoshop or Artificial Intelligence. In 2023, the artist began to build a set that that looked like the inside of a ship or ferry. The process took several days, including painstakingly constructing each piece of furniture from scratch. Kistner is a practitioner who prefers a hands-on approach. The location was redecorated several times, both in terms of colour and content, to ensure the perfect backdrop for the staged photographs.
My Vintage Stories is a series of images captured in this studio, where the meticulously created backdrop almost appears like a theatre set. The viewer is transported to a surreal world, where the jovial shots that would be expected of retro travel photography are turned on their head. In The Student, a young woman tips a pot of coffee directly onto the table, forming a perfect circle of liquid that matches the row of donuts laid in front of her. Elsewhere, a girl travels with seemingly nothing but a goldfish in a glass bowl. The works provoke viewers to try and fill in the gaps, forming their own narratives about the protagonists. There are times when the scenes verge on the absurd. Yet, Kistner manages to craft moments of intense intrigue, drawing audiences into this strange reality. A prime example is La Treversata, where a lady sits in a black veil with a tuba clasped in her hands. Her face is melancholic to the point of being disquieting, whilst a bunch of red roses is discarded beside her. It is difficult to resist wondering: where has she been? And where is she going?
Words: Emma Jacob
All images courtesy of the artist.
