2018 e-book edition – READ HERE
Heinz Stephan Tesarek: ZWISCHENZEIT
Zwischenzeit (engl.: interim) is a personal view of the situation in Europe during the first decade of the 21st century, documented in 100 photographs. The series is preceded by a cycle of fourteen photographs, Addendum – Living and Dying in Times of Refugee Crisis and War in Syria (2018 edition). The works focus on the unreality of the moment and the question of truth.
Note on purchasing the book:
The 2018 e-book is currently not offered for sale. The symbolically estimated price merely serves to block parts of the book or to release them for viewing. The book’s core – the Zwischenzeit series – can be seen in full in the printed first edition from 2013. This edition is available in the ZWISCHENZEIT ONLINE shop.
ZWISCHENZEIT – THE FIRST DECADE
Introductory description
The photographic inventory, Zwischenzeit (engl.: interim), is a guide across Europe, traversing the worlds of the powerful and the powerless through an age of emerging discord.
Sleeping-places for incoming refugees follow celebrations of private parties, victims of Islamic terror follow marches of neo-Fascist organizations, screenshots from entertainment shows follow hidden messages in the basement pubs of the jobless.
And as an introduction: images of the investment bank, Lehman Brothers, in New York follow photos of a Diamond Dinner in Vienna on the evening when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the global economy plunged into its deepest recession since 1945.
It is a special point in historical time to which the photographs lead their viewers: Zwischenzeit – the first decade. Of the 21st century. Of the third millennium.
When fathoming the question as to what was happening in Europe at this time, what trends were becoming apparent and how politics, society and the media dealt with them, the 100 photographs provide detailed and comprehensive insights.
Without comment – but from a personal perspective.
Production and publication
The period in which the Zwischenzeit-photographs came about was from 2004 to 2010. The pictures were taken in twelve European countries, the Asian part of Russia and the United States. In 2013 the series appeared under the title, Zwischenzeit – Pictures of Decisive Years, as an illustrated book (2013 edition).
Three Zwischenzeit projects were presented in December 2016 at the Italian photography festival Fotografia in Rome: an exhibition of 40 photographs under the title, Zwischenzeit – Quo Vadis Europa?, the 2016 e-book edition under the same title, and the ZWISCHENZEIT ONLINE platform, on which the book was available for free viewing for several weeks. Venue for the event was the Sala 1 gallery at the Scala Santa, the Holy Stairs.
In 2018 an updated e-book edition appeared at ZWISCHENZEIT ONLINE under the title Zwischenzeit – The First Decade. In this edition, the cycle of photographs, Addendum introduces the Zwischenzeit series for the first time.
Addendum – Living and Dying in Times of Refugee Crisis and War in Syria
The Addendum cycle of photographs extends the Zwischenzeit series by 14 images taken between 2014 and 2018. The work arose as a consequence of the Zwischenzeit exhibition at the Scala Santa and is a personal engagement with Pontius Pilate’s question, “Quid est veritas? What is truth?”, against a contemporary background: the refugee crisis and the war in Syria. Apart from cause and effect of the events, the chronologically ordered photographs consider the trustworthiness of the sources of information reporting from Syria, especially that of the civil defence organization, the White Helmets.
Press Reviews (First edition 2013)
“Trains of thought cast in images.”
“A master of the coded message, who demands the viewer’s attention and so grants a deep insight.”
“A disturbing documentary.”
Die Presse
“His idea of the crumbling, disintegrating interregnum on the road to destruction.”
“His magnum opus.”
Der Standard
“Much appears that is otherwise kept secret or forgotten.”
“A document of the age in which we live.”
News
“Totally surreal.”
Profil
“The book is a politically determined résumé.”
Photonews