Photographer Kerstin Arnemann manipulates light to create mesmerising black and white shots. Sarah Chircop finds out more about the artistic process that drives her.

Kerstin Arnemann

Photography is essentially the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light. Or at least that is what Wikipedia says. Now, before you condemn my use of Wikipedia, as let’s face it he’s been of help to all of us at some point, Wikipedia does in fact attempt to give us the essence of something in a simplified way and, although this simplicity may sometimes be too simple and even incorrect, it is not always the easiest of jobs to summarise a piece of knowledge to its very core, to its very essence.

Photography is, of course, a lot more complex than that first sentence. Yet, one can never really go wrong when seeking the essence, especially in art. Kerstin Arnemann’s latest exhibition, titled Visual Impressions, presents a selection of photographs from various projects she has worked on. Her work, essentially, aims to capture the very soul of her subjects and in her mission to do so, she seeks to manipulate the very essence of photography – light.

Musical Architecture

Talking with Kerstin, she modestly tells me of her relatively short career in professional photography. Having started around 2011 with the Malta Institute for Professional Photography (MIPP), she initially began by taking many pictures exploring different things, uncertain of her direction. However, she quickly found herself attracted to the geometric shapes, lines and forms of architecture.

She humorously points out how mathematics is, by far, her strong point. But there is something more than the physical elements of architecture that has engrossed the artist, as she has also made it her priority to capture the character of her subjects and stimulate emotion through a personalised vision. Landscapes and nudes are also themes which captivate her for the very same principles.

Additionally, she highlights the insignificance of expensive and highly-advanced equipment and stresses how vision and composition are far more rewarding tools and which have, in fact, allowed her to create award-winning photographs. She has also been exhibited in Greece, Portland, China and Malta.

In black and white there is no apology for mistake, it’s all about the intensity of light

The artist primarily chooses to work in black and white, a choice I think she deems necessary in achieving what she really wants to express and a choice I find particularly interesting. Black and white allows the artist to manipulate the essence of photography, as she fundamentally explores light in its very principle.

Shape of Sound

“In black and white there is no apology for mistake,” she says. “It’s all about the intensity of light. “Black and white is, in truth, the most well-suited medium to bring out form and line, and it is through definite form and line that artistic thought and personal expression is captured in its purest form. This does not mean that colour can’t offer a vehicle to artistic thought and expression. However, controlling the intensity of light through colour is a much more complex matter, and the artist is here more concerned with capturing light in its rawest state.”

Yet, one must not forget that between black and white lie 245 different shades of grey, a range of possibilities Kerstin considers very seriously.

There are three elements the artist prioritises in her work. First is her artistic vision, which is why she never works on single photographs, but conceives her work as a series in order to keep the vision alive. Secondly is creativity, and finally is capturing the light. These elements all contribute to an interesting artistic process which, I believe, is sometimes more important than the final piece itself. Kerstin says how she keeps her workflow purposely simple and in the form of a ritual “in order to help me focus on the creative and not technical aspect”.

The Paradox of Freedom

Ship to Shore Dance

She thus begins with her vision, then scouts the land in advance taking test shots and conducting research which inevitably stimulates creativity and leads to the shoot itself. Once the images have been captured, Kerstin then proceeds to the process of editing.

Although she is highly intuitive, she never disregards the fundamental rules of both photography and art. She is very well read in the teachings of Ansel Adams and also tells me of her training in fine art, where she studied the great masters for painting and drawing for line, relentlessly focusing on how light manipulates volume. Incorporating these lessons into her process, Kerstin recreates her vision carefully, while also using the concept of photographic painting. The final aspect to her process involves taking a step back from her work and leaving it to breathe independently. On returning to it, she is finished once she feels satisfied that her vision has been accomplished.

She highlights the insignificance of expensive and highly-advanced equipment and stresses how vision and composition are far more rewarding tools

Visual Impressions is curated by Kevin Casha, who is also president of the MIPP. The exhibition essentially invites the viewer to stimulate their minds and discover meaning in every image. Observing her work, I feel that for someone who deems herself an unmathematical being, she has quite the natural feel for balancing geometric shapes, lines and forms. This can be seen throughout, but especially in her architectural pieces like the photograph Musical Architecture, where she has created a harmony of these parts out of what some call the ugly buildings of Smart City.

Soul of the City

Another element in her work is the presence of people as a method to further reveal architectural elements and seen in the photograph Soul of the City from her Architectural Street Photography series. This work makes me reflect on how the constant forward rush of contemporary life sometimes tends to disable us from opening the mind to those details of the beauty which surrounds us in the present moment.

Her photograph, titled Ship to Shore, which captures Malta’s Freeport in a very early and busy hour, is a testimony to the artist’s strong belief that photographs must be printed. As if looking through the camera lens itself, this almost futuristic vision pulls in the viewer and guides his/her eye to follow the direction of the light in one accelerative movement. This effect has been fully achieved through its transfer onto paper and I think it can even afford to go even bigger.

The photograph which it is transferred onto paper is a powerful metamorphosis which further brings out artistic essence. I feel that the strength and success in Kerstin’s work lies in the fact that she has grasped the essence in all departments... she has understood the essence of her medium, how to use that medium to capture the essence of her subject while also the essence of her artistic expression.

Visual Impression runs at Sistina, 188, The Strand, Gżira, until March 13.