Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (FFF) showcases the work of Danish photographer Torben Eskerod (b. 1960), an artist who explores memory and transience. In portraits, especially, he seeks to capture the intangible: the energies that people exude, the experiences embedded in people’s faces and eyes.
FFF’s curator, Alison Nordström, frames the works as an investigation into the “surfaces of the world” to find out what lurks beneath and “to emphasise the power of what cannot be seen, known or shown in its entirety.” This is particularly true for the series Life and Death Masks (2001). Highly detailed masks stand in stark contrast to the undefinable blackness of the background. In combination with the larger-than- life format of the photographs (120cmx150cm), the subjects, come, strangely, to life. However, no matter how portrait-like and “three-dimensional” the depictions, the personalities of the deceased remain sealed within the masks, behind their closed eyes. The power of the gaze (or its absence) is central to most of Eskerod’s portraits. Shots of hypnotists, healers, nuns or male friends in their 40s and 50s – half-way through life – seem to transport much more than a CV ever could.
The exhibition presents an unprecedented overview of Eskerod’s work to date in Germany, with 140 pictures from 22 series over the last 30 years. The show highlights, are undoubtedly, the many portraits that explore the human condition. However, some architectural and landscape images are equally compelling. For the series Marselis (2003), Eskerod photographed trees with outdated film, which resulted in surreal colours and a hazy-romantic atmosphere. Ultimately, we are offered a different kind of understanding on transience: less through the subject matter, but the material in use.
Fotografie Forum, Frankfurt 29 January – 9 May
Words: Marthe Lisson
Image Credits:
1. From the series “Dioramas“, 2015–2017. © Torben Eskerod, 2022
2. From the series “Marselis“, 2003 © Torben Eskerod, 2022
3. From the series “Can Lis“, 2010 © Torben Eskerod, 2022
4. From the series “Can Lis“, 2010 © Torben Eskerod, 2022
