wowe . Essence . Twenty-five Years of Portraits

Every face is unique, yet its expressions are universally intelligible. Whether joy, sorrow, happiness, contentment, or fear—people’s faces reflect moods and emotions, reveal information about age, sex, and social circumstances. By controlling our facial expressions, we can conceal or disguise things or pretend to be something we’re not. So when face to face with others, we know exactly what they are looking at but can never be completely sure of what they see. What results is the complex dialectic between recognition and non-recognition, closeness and distance, that makes the face the “most interesting surface for us in the world” (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg). For precisely this reason, the face forms the main focus of interest for the photographer wowe. In his pictures, he captures moments of quiet and calm. His photographs of Joseph Beuys, James Brown, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Schumacher, Herbie Hancock, or Keith Haring show the subjects gazing calmly and serenely into the camera, presenting the viewer the rare opportunity to study their faces more intimately. Actors, musicians, artists, and writers who are otherwise known only from the fleeting world of the mass media seem personally approachable in wowe’s portraits. Guided tour evey Sunday . 4 pm with Gunnar Lüsch . Art historian Partner wowe photography Supporter Hotel Bogota . Dinamix Media partner twinity