Series of 12 photo etchings

Germany 1977–1984

Copyright (all images): Annegret Soltau VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018

“A reflection on a sense of inhibition and constriction of movement is also present in the photographic series da-gegen-gehen (going against, 1977–84), in which the artist portrays herself in the act of forcefully pressing her body against a wall. The twelve photographs of the series start with a monochromatic white, the detail of the wall, to then show us the artist’s body from close-up to full length, finally ending with a monochromatic black. Soltau uses a needle to scratch the photographic film, removing the chemical emulsion of the negative and creating a material void, an allegory of the human condition in which the act of ‘going against’ is destined to failure.” (http://www.strozzina.org/en/artists/annegret-soltau/)

Annegret Soltau, born 1946 in Lüneburg, Germany, lives and works in Darmstadt.