Artist Focus: Reinhard Görner
Libraries are both shelters and places of escape. It is this feeling that our photographer Reinhard Görner has been exploring for many years, in search of the most beautiful and solemn reading rooms around the world. Intimate libraries nestled in the heart of secluded abbeys or grandiose halls of prestigious universities, for the German artist, these rooms are an inexhaustible reservoir of inspiration. Let yourself be transported through architectures, styles and eras in this portrait of Reinhard Görner, a self-taught artist with a multifaceted and contagious passion.
As an architectural photographer, Reinhard worked for many years for architects before deciding to focus on his passion. His goal is to explore how the great masters of architecture have created spaces that breathe beauty and silence by playing with shadows, light, proportions, rhythms. He quickly discovered that libraries have always been and still are wonderful playgrounds for architects, allowing them to focus on the question of form and emptiness: "I see myself as an ambassador trying to convey the spirit of these builders with my photographic means".
"Once you enter the space, a dialogue with the room will begin: how does it feel, is there a notion of balance, is it overloaded with décor (which is sometimes found in baroque libraries), in what position do I feel it is here and nowhere else? Last but not least, before pressing the shutter, I have to remove all the disturbing elements from the room - there are usually many of them. If this is not possible on location, I have to "clean" the image in post-production, the eye having to rest and not be distracted by irritating objects". The photographer wishes to convey an air of serenity and stillness through his photographs: "I hope that the viewers will find a sense of rest when looking at my photographs. Furthermore, I hope that my photographs will bring another dimension to the rooms in which they are hung".