Britain's What's On Event Guide
Underground Portraits - Photography Exhibition
In his first UK exhibition at the iconic Photobook Café the photographer Wolfgang Strassl offers his distinctive perspective on the unique urban environment of the London Underground and its passengers.
In a response to the multicultural urban phenomenon that is the London Tube, Wolfgang Strassl has created a series of unique portraits of his fellow passengers on the London Underground, in which he chooses to focus not on their faces, but on their bodies. By excluding the face from the portrait altogether, Strassl presents us with an experience that appears, on one level, unapologetically intrusive. We can stare without sanction at the commuters and make our own judgements about them, whatever these may be. Yet, on another level, by delving into what our clothing, belongings and body posture can overtly or subconsciously divulge about us, Strassl confronts us with the bare reality of what it is like to be one of a multitude of passengers at close quarters with each other, whose visual appearance may make an unintended impression on others. Strassl sees the London Underground as a uniquely democratic social space, giving us the opportunity to examine our own probing gaze and, through it, confront ourselves.
Wolfgang Strassl is a German-born photographer who divides his time between his home city of Munich and his adopted second home, London. With a background in economics, Strassl is interested in human interaction within the prevailing social systems, urban spaces, and environments and how they determine the characteristics and conditions of human existence. He has published several photobooks on urban landscapes and the human interaction with the environment, including Arcadian Sketchbook, Hinterhof and Underground Portraits. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS) and was awarded the Bronze medal by Deutscher Fotobuchpreis in 2018 for Homeland, his reflection on the urban and natural landscapes of East Jerusalem.
In a response to the multicultural urban phenomenon that is the London Tube, Wolfgang Strassl has created a series of unique portraits of his fellow passengers on the London Underground, in which he chooses to focus not on their faces, but on their bodies. By excluding the face from the portrait altogether, Strassl presents us with an experience that appears, on one level, unapologetically intrusive. We can stare without sanction at the commuters and make our own judgements about them, whatever these may be. Yet, on another level, by delving into what our clothing, belongings and body posture can overtly or subconsciously divulge about us, Strassl confronts us with the bare reality of what it is like to be one of a multitude of passengers at close quarters with each other, whose visual appearance may make an unintended impression on others. Strassl sees the London Underground as a uniquely democratic social space, giving us the opportunity to examine our own probing gaze and, through it, confront ourselves.
Wolfgang Strassl is a German-born photographer who divides his time between his home city of Munich and his adopted second home, London. With a background in economics, Strassl is interested in human interaction within the prevailing social systems, urban spaces, and environments and how they determine the characteristics and conditions of human existence. He has published several photobooks on urban landscapes and the human interaction with the environment, including Arcadian Sketchbook, Hinterhof and Underground Portraits. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS) and was awarded the Bronze medal by Deutscher Fotobuchpreis in 2018 for Homeland, his reflection on the urban and natural landscapes of East Jerusalem.
Viewing Hours:
Thu 6pm – 9pm, Fri 9am – 9pm, Sat 10am – 9pm, Sun 10am – 4pm
Free to attend
Private View: Thursday, 4th July 2024, 6pm to 9pm
Booking is free but essential
Thu 6pm – 9pm, Fri 9am – 9pm, Sat 10am – 9pm, Sun 10am – 4pm
Free to attend
Private View: Thursday, 4th July 2024, 6pm to 9pm
Booking is free but essential
Photobook Café, 4 Leonard Circus, London EC2A 4DQ
Thu 4 Jul to Sun 7 July