online review of the BORN IN BRENNEN* exhibition at forum016 im Stadtmuseum München, 7.5 – 5.7.´09
A Photojournalist Says a Lot With a Little
MUNICH -- Jörg Koopmann's photography exhibition at the Stadtmuseum is so small that, on a recent visit,
not even the museum's staff were sure where to find it. That could only be in the photographer's interest:
Mr. Koopmann is a master of the art of understatement -- and he likes to create confusion.
An accomplished photojournalist and travel photographer, Mr. Koopmann's life and career are intrinsically linked to the city of Munich,
where he studied and has had most of exhibitions. About a third of the pictures exhibited in "Born in Brennen* 2001-2009,"
his current exhibition, were taken at the Bavarian Open music festival in Munich. But this is about as consistent as it gets.
The show benefits from an apparent lack of focus, both in the pictures themselves and in the purpose of the exhibition. The title is derived from
a spelling mistake in a song Patti Smith dedicated to the German Guantánamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz. Some of the pictures, in black and white,
depict rock concerts; the rest show what look like accidental snapshots from the sidelines of political events, often shot at a very wide angle,
with no clear indication of where to look. This is what makes Mr. Koopmann's work so interesting: He doesn't tell you what to think.
It seems he doesn't try to tell you anything -- and that's how he manages to say so much.
The pictures depict banal, everyday scenes, but at second glance prove difficult to interpret: a parasol in camouflage pattern leaning against a wall;
a man posing next to a war memorial, cigarette hanging from his lips; a woman sitting on the floor after a rock concert.
They are about politics, power, terrorism and contradictions -- and at the same time, they look as if any passer-by could have taken them.
Mr. Koopmann's great skill is evident in the fact that they are so fascinating to look at.
—Kati Krause
Until July 5
