“If portraiture were merely about recording how people look, then every photographer with a sharp lens would be a master,” writes Phillip Prodger in the book Face Time (Thames & Hudson, 2021). “Instead, it is among the most difficult undertakings in art … the portraitist is an excavator of truth, revealing qualities of which the sitter might not even be aware, or may wish to hide.” Jonas Hafner, a hospital doctor based in Hamburg, is recognised for narrative-driven depictions of people and places. Each scene unfolds as if part of a storybook, from figures lying amidst beet leaves to eyes peering through sky blue garden gates. Hafner excels at creating a palpable sense of mood, and every image evokes a different emotion or ambience. Some are dark, brooding and mournful, with subjects stepping out into cool waters or shrouded in the dark shadow of buildings. Others are playful and experimental – relishing in the freedom of youth, sunlight and green, open fields. aufzehengehen.de











All image courtesy Jonas Hafner.