Built in 1930 by Mies van der Rohe, the Tugendhat Villa is one of the most perfect expressions of modernity. It is also marked by the memory of its owners, who had to become exiles in Switzerland in 1938 to flee Nazism. It has been restored and has been open to the public since 1994. The photographer, by superimposing his vision of the architecture and documents excerpted from the original owners’ family album, offers a complex reading of history, of our perception of time, in square format both rigorous and moving. Beyond the portrayal of the building, he gives back to it the memory of the lives within. In two other series – radical, descriptive, and implacable – he shows the details, in vertical views, of the clean lines of boats and Venetian gondolas, removed from their environment by placing them on a white background. Rigorous work, done with sincerity and brio.
Born in Bonn, Germany, in 1968, he lives and works in Wiesbaden, Germany. After acquiring a background in photography from 1990 to 1993, Dirk returned to university studies in applied sciences in Wiesbaden and earned a diploma in Communications, photography option (2001). He then studied at the Akademie fur Bildende Kunste at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. His work can be seen in many collections, such as : Avenso AG, Berlin / Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris.
