An inventive convolution of glass negatives containing photographs of plants from the era between the two World Wars is the starting point for the current photo series Formation by Erik Niedling. For months, he studied the plates, reproduced them, and then made new, large prints from the negatives he selected. Tradition is repeated, yet through his subtle arrangement, the reconstruction is transformed into deconstruction. A visual puzzle is created, leading the viewer to ask the unanswerable question of whether the work is now a positive or a negative, a document or a work of art, historical material or a new artistic creation.For the Edition Hatje Cantz, the photo artist chose a cactus image of simple beauty–a motif that, with Albert Renger-Patzsch along with Karl Blossfeldt, the second great figure of “New Objectivity” photography, moved to the forefront.
