Ben Becker Jedermann, Salzburger Festspiele, 17.8.2010. Foto: Margarita Broich
Yesterday I went to see Margarita Broich’s exhibition in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. The exhibition presents 60 portraits of actors in the subject of „the state of the actor after giving a performance“. The photos were taken in various locations: backstage areas, dressing rooms, caravans, open air and more.
In some of the portraits, Broich captures unique and magical moments between herself and her subject; in others, the subjects are posed, not giving a genuine look into the camera.
60 photos is quite a lot for an exhibition and I believe that it could have been reduced by half to get the best of the best. Like they say, less is more…
The prints are printed in large format. Some of the photos spread out to about two meters in width and one-and-a-half meters in height. This does glorify the actors, but it misses a sense of backstage intimacy. On the other hand, when I look at the photos in the exhibition book I did feel that intimacy.
Tacheles reden: I enjoyed the exhibition and recommend it. If you do go, check out the book as well.