PHOTOGRAPH & FABIAN

Fabian’s father stood stock still, dwarfed by the anchor, the Rhine running behind him. Fabian framed him in the view finder and pressed the shutter. The camera was a basic 50s model, a Pouva Start from East Germany. At home the bathroom smelt of vinegar, it served as their make-shift darkroom. They stuck the wet prints to the tiled wall to dry. The photograph of his silhouetted father has travelled with Fabian. Where we might see it as ‘noir’, see it’s sharp contrast in tone and it’s composition, Fabian simply remembers home, his dad and making something together. The photo, for all it’s apparent sophistication, was shot in an entirely unmannered way with an untrained eye and exposed with gut feeling. Fabian doubts he could produce anything as evocative today as he did that day – a seven year old boy out with his dad taking pictures by the river.

01 Apr 2012