Contre Jour Photography Berlin

Contre Jour Photography is the topic – Karlo Walz is the artist.

Grew up in Freundenstadt, Black Forest in South of Germany, studied for political reasons mechanical engineer and mathematics in Karlsruhe to become a development helper. Worked with physically and mentally handicapped people several years, programming applications and as financial reporting project lead for a transnational global company while living in Hamburg

Now lives in Berlin.
In my earliest memory I started to think about that I wanted to do photography, since I was 14 years old. Got a minimalistic camera, started photography and borred more and more a SLR camera to influence the process, learned to develop the films and prints.
Political, journalistic photography was in my mind, story telling by photography, but also I was also fascinated to took pictures at theatre pieces and performances. During these days with an analoge process with black and white films and pictures.
During my study of meachics in Karlsruhe I moved to Hamburg doing a social year but also has done a vhs video film about a handicapped community „Behindert oder was“.

I wasn’t mature enough to follow this intrinsic motivation to study art, or film or photography as I wanted to do, but financial restrictions, depressions which I suffered stopped me going this path with all consequences and at the same time I could no longer study at university.
I somehow managed to finalize my study of mechanics, started programming to earn money and finance my studies and finally got my master in engineering and lost my last drop of passion that I really wanted to work in this area. I worked some years as an educational assistent with handicaped adults and then decided to move on, got a business administration degree and worked for a very long time in the controlling department of an international food company, the last 10 years as managing finance reporting projects in architecture, design and operations. In the last 12 years it grew again more and more and stronger and stronger the wish again to do something else, to change and become an artist and to create art by photography, sculptures & performances. I choose to move to Berlin to follow this now in full. Inspired by the novel from Thomas Pynchon I chose my artist name as „Contre Jour“ as my photographic schema and art topic. This is also the classic french expression of making pictures against the light, which I also found so interessting. For myself I found the Burning Man culture not only very inspiring in philosophy but also in practical realisation by just doing art, making pictures, learn to be consent and also not caring about perfection and others. Radical self expression was for me not only a huge learning curve to overcome shame and my anxiety about people in general but also learning to express myself, my inner map, the roles, the inner truth, wishes and pain with one word the own self, my inner self.I can clearly say that Larry Harvey was for sure one of my artist role model, even not knowing him in person. I found again my spiritual path which was covered but not lost and with meditations I dived deeper in my anxieties and depression analysis and our emotional system and behaviour.. I canot overvome these but the meditation helped my to slowly understand the mesh.

Same from a photographic perspective I am influenced a lot by Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, Kristian Schuller, Thomas Lohr and so many more from all the pictures I see which are speaking to me in a good and in a bad way, while I see them. I am very much influenced by modern expression dance and modern theatre but also from philosphers like Bertrand Russel, Wittgenstein and more. I should add that a lot culminated in the arts I saw out there at „Black Rock City“ the burn in the US/Nevada, performances, sculptures, poems, inspirational thoughts. For some of them I needed years to understand and others I was somehow even to shy to understand them as I did not took the time to really look at them or I was fighting too much with my own prejudice. What I shame I had to learn and to confess. At leaset it opened my eyes radically. Thesse artists are my really hero of the time as they are so close and near that I could reach out my hand and participate.

I am working to express my feelings, my philosophy, my understanding of the physics of the world, the mathematics, the psychology. Even more I am learning to express my inner self, my anxieties and my abuse experiences. I got the gift that I felt that the creative process helps me to transform in another self which I really enjoy as it frees me up during this process.
I feel so much the need to do art and do creative things, it is like that I am hungry and I need to eat. I am really starving while I cannot do anything.

What I found out is that I suffer a lot of stage fever even when I do photography. I have to admit that this is part of my strange logic that I do not want to prepare myself to be as open as possible for the unexpected but also this let me suffer before the time is ready to begin. It is then the process of doing that creates so much satisfaction and is sometimes so much more then the final result.

Since 2019 I am based in Berlin and an artist and photographer of people. I love to paint, create art and capture art, people, appreciate the diversity of people and the spontaneity as an art creation process. The raw expression, the theatralic performance, the flying dance and my inner voise of redically beautiful uniqueness could be everywhere: This is the topic of my work. The way is like a fisherman, who does not disturb the fishes but he setting the framework and if all is done then he is just waiting till he gets what he wants.. It is all artistic and authentic at the same time.

Berlin, 2023 January