Present Perfect
Caspar Sessler has been attracting attention with his "present perfect" series of works since 2015. He stages well-known places over a long period of time and shows changes in a composite image. Not only does it remain visible that these are collages, but the photographer directly emphasizes his special collaging process.
Caspar Sessler - BerlinContemporary history from the same perspective
Caspar Sessler was born in 1982, lives and works in Bremen, where he graduated in 2013. He made a name for himself in the art scene in 2015 with his project "present perfect". Present perfect is the English tense that describes completed events from the past that are still connected to the present. Caspar makes use of this Anglicism and uses it to create his photographic collage series. A project that is perhaps never finished: true to its name! For this project, he seeks out historically significant places with recognition value, some of which were photographed 100 years before him.
For his art, the main difficulty lies in finding the same location and capturing it from the same perspective.
Caspar Sessler - BremenA combination of old and new
This is not easy. The same angle, the same image section and therefore the same focal length are important. A special technique called "scissor-and-glue aesthetics" is used. It is similar to the technique used in elementary school, where different pictures are glued together. He glues the original pictures onto a pane of glass and then photographs the new picture through it on site - an extraordinarily elaborate analog and digital photo collage. The result is a combination of old and new, sometimes with very hard edges. Once he has found the final form, it is then enlarged. With panorama-like sections of the cities, archive and contemporary images are thus put together in such a way that the interfaces are recognizable, but a harmonious overall picture is created. The differences in color separate the past from the present, but the overall construct reconnects them. The viewer has the possibility of direct comparison in one picture. There are traces from the past and changes that have shaped the respective urban space to the same extent as the current urban and social situation. In his motifs, Sessler primarily draws on historically significant cities such as Bremen or Berlin. Places that have well-known buildings and squares. That is why it is so easy to compare them.
Caspar Sessler - Berlin Lustgarten
Caspar Sessler - Bremen
Caspar Sessler - Berlin KudammMaking the changes in cities clear: both positive and negative
The cathedral, the church, the market: identity features of cities that exist just as much today, but have been structurally altered. His love for his home town is also reflected in another project, #ausliebezurmusik, in which he accompanied the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra. They bring great emotions to the stage with classical music and also embody the tradition, the feeling of home and the transformation of the city of Bremen. Here, too, he uses the power of collages.
In "present perfect", Sessler wants to depict the changes in cities as people perceive them: in both positive and negative ways. Some of the compositions may seem absurd or inappropriate. In this way, society's view of the city at the time is conveyed and directly compared with today's.
Caspar Sessler's collages take us through time, or to be more precise: through space and time. Changes in mobility, society, the identity of cities and people. This is exactly what photography makes possible: to make changes clear, to capture moments and keep them alive.
You can find out more about the artist on his website or on Instagram.
Caspar Sessler - Bremen
Caspar Sessler - Bremen Domsheide
