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SURF FICTION is Werner Amann's work from 1997. It engages with social reality and image bound-culture in Los Angeles and other urban centers in the U.S. . Beyond a mere documentary or created approach, SURF FICTION interlinks photography with collages, typography, video stills, abrupt breaks and double page spreads - switching with each page turn from one plot to another. The work play projections of a myth that regenerates itself from day to day, producing an image of Los Angeles and at the same time visual reflection on modern reality.

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How did the work for surf fiction come together - is it an ode to the city of L.A.?
____It could be an ode or a fair warning. Or citing Robert Venturi: "Learning from Los Angeles".

Would you call it a documentation taking place in the nineties?
____No. Although it has a lot of documentary elements it is not purely documentary in a classic photographic sense. And to me “Surf Fiction“ is as much about the future as the past.

Or is it rather a photographic essay?
____Rather a visual thesis.

The whole "Surf Fiction" complex looks like a collage from different perspectives, ranging from video snippets to portrait photography...
____Yes. It plays on a lot of viewpoints and influences but my intention was to meld them with a strong authorial eye and voice.

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How did it develop and how much graphic design was implemented?
____Mostly playing a lot with the material I had collected on a trial and error basis again and again and being very strict in selecting the images and montages which stand out.

How long did it take to compile?
____It took a year of going back and forth with the concept till I had a feeling this could work. The shooting then took around three months and the editing process was four months straight.

Do you find any parallels between Berlin and L.A.?
____Only that I love both cities but in a very different way.

What’s next for you... are you working on another complex of work?
____Yes, but my religion prohibits me to tell you before it's finished.

 

Words: MRK
werneramann.com

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