The magazine of the photo-essay
August 2018 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
by Frank Darius
Tunichtgut
Frank Darius’ work is characterised by its response to one of the central
questions in contemporary art, namely how and why something
deserves to be seen and engaged with. He answers this question by
finding things that are worthy of being seen. In other words, the humour
and originality of his photographs find a hold in the actual situation and
reference it: the significance of the scene does not require laborious
staging.
In his book, Tunichtgut (which roughly translates as “up to no good”),
Frank Darius subtly narrates a story. His subjects are not theoretically
determined positions, but signposts of his own concern, albeit a very
unsentimental concern. It is no surprise that they do not lead the viewer straight to the target. Often criss-crossed by side
paths and distracted by a fearless gaze at the places of others, Frank Darius’ approach is remarkably consistent and
promising because he refuses to let himself be guided by dogmas masquerading as anti-dogmatic positions.
Perhaps one could understand “Tunichtgut” as meaning that Darius refuses to cater to demands or readings that seek to
attach an “aesthetic” label to his work, and he certainly ignores their demands for terribilis gestures.
One expects a Tunichtgut to continually snub the many different demands as to how we wish to see the world today. His
talent extends as far as the Taugenichts – the Good-For-Nothing, the hero of a novella by one of Germany’s greatest
romantic poets. Just like this iconic character, Darius wanders the world, finding a reality that is simultaneously poetry;
poetry that, in turn is entitled to lay claim to the status of reality – preserved in the ephemeral, enclosed in the diversity
of the myths of everyday life.
Wastepaper 1997.
Corbusier house 1999.
Shopping trolley 1998.
Hand 1999.
Cat candles 1999.
Bear in chains 1999.
Kieler Bucht 1999.
Pansy boxes 1999.
Leipziger Straße 1998.
Advertising column 1998.
Truck 1997.
Passat 1999.
Train 1998.
Slingshot 2000.
Chairs 1998.
Swimming pool 2000.
Tore 1998.
