Claude Stahel has been working as a photographer in Zürich for over twenty years. His work is heavily influenced by photography from the first half of the twentieth century through the mid-1950. Stahel experimented with turning digital photos back to black and white analog negatives, a forgotten technique used in the eighties in cinematography, before the video-projector was invented. In the darkroom, he printed these negatives on silver gelatin paper, which creates a unique look that is playful and almost trashy, highlighting Stahel’s conception of an experimental adult playground.
Series
photoSCHWEIZ 2021
8 images
For this photography project, titled EKTALURE.X, Stahel moves away from focusing on other models and instead turns the camera on himself. By using himself as the subject, a man now in his mid fifties, he confronts the idea and stigmas attached to aging and sexual objectification. Masculinity versus femininity comes up throughout the pieces. Stahel uses props such as tires, firewood, and balloons, which are often associated with one or another gender, to experiment with female and male roles and to tell a bigger story. This is especially relevant in today’s world, as movements continue to generate new conversations around the topic of gender. In the age of the selfie, his simple, straightforward self-portraits offer a stark contrast. Selfies represent a medium for affectation, trying to fit into an environment, and deluding one’s level of self-importance.
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