Klaus Pichler Creative Report by Michael Humphries

Klaus Pichler

Klaus Pichler Klaus Pichler lives and works in Vienna, Austria. Having studied Landscape Architecture at the University of Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. After he finished his Landscape Architecture studies in 2005, he decided to become a fulltime photographer. Since then, he is creating free photo projects on a range of diverse topics, which were published and exhibited extensively in the past years. In his works, he is inspired by the hidden aspects of everyday life. Pichler’s work has won numerous awards, including Kunstpreis der Stadt Knittelfeld, and 2nd Prize ‘best in show’ Award for ‘Provocation’ exhibition, New York Photo Festival.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Idyls

Klaus Pichler

Idyls

I think humour is a much more clever way to emphasize on anything which moves or bothers me that waving my pointing finger. I like to play with facts, to bend reality and to reach people by means of entertaining them at first glimpse, and getting them to think and reflect on the second glimpse. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that it is intentional, it more reflects me as a person and my approach towards arts and, in a wider circle, towards my way of coping with the world as it is.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

Is there a difference between funny art and witty art?

Idyls

Yes, funny art is funny when you are looking at it for the first time, whilst witty art contains a twist, a double layer, a strange notion which is able to last for longer or, ideally, forever.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

Humour is a problem for many clients. But you have clients who call on you especially for your whimsy. Why do you think that’s the case? I don’t know, I think it depends on the mindset of the clients and on the purpose of the images they want me to create. Humour does not fit to anything, but if it does, it can be great fun to create ideas for transporting a message in a completely unexpected way.

Is humour in art essentially a process of getting away with something?

Idyls

In my case, definitely. For me it is a way to create a double layer in perceiving the artworks – the first, humorous layer, is a kind of gate to entering the image or the concept, and the deeper layers are containing the & ‘real’; content – social issues or troubling facts. I have chosen this way because it sharpens the attention and a certain twist in the concept is also some kind of invitation to a journey to the deeper layers. It’s, of course, up to the viewers, if the just want to have a laugh and remain in the shallow layer or if they want to enter the topic in a serious reflection process.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Idyls

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Just the two of us

Klaus Pichler

Just the two of us

Some photography humour is strained. I don’t sense this in your work. Whats the secret to capturing natural witty photographs? 16

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Tough question. I think this is something which is deeply linked to my personality and to my approach in creating my photos: I begin every project with a research process, gathering every piece of information I can get hold on. Then, by thing, things are piling up and getting complex, and that’s the point where I bring in photography and try to get things back to a simple status, a twist, a witty concept. That’s the biggest challenge but also the most satisfying part – to find back to a form of simplicity which simultaneously bears some twist and some deeper layers.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Just the two of us

Klaus Pichler

Just the two of us

Your project Just the Two of Us is incredibly witty and original. How did this idea come to fruition? It was, as all my projects, the final result of a basically very simple idea. I was just interested in costumes and the people behind them. During the research process, I focused on the & ‘alter ego’ concept and decided that I want to take photos of how people who have created alter egos will fit into their ‘civil person’ surroundings. Then I did some research and found out about the different traditions and groups who are linked to costumes, and I tried to create photos of the full bandwidth.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Just the two of us

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Just the two of us

Klaus Pichler

What is your most successful humorous work?

Getting up every day, looking in the mirror and thinking I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know you, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m gonna brush your teeth anyway.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Middle Class Utopia

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Golden days before they end

Klaus Pichler

The project started in 2012 when Clemens Marschall, the writer, asked me if I was interested in starting a project together. He had attended some of the bars as a guest and discovered that the atmosphere was some kind of special and that the star of these bars was sinking. When I entered the first bars, I also got infected with the mood in these places and felt that I was getting along well with the people, so we both started to work on the project on a quite intense level. We felt the urge to be quick because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge process of bars closing down going on at the moment and we felt that we needed to be quick in order to cover a huge number of bars before they had closed down forever. The design scheme was quite simple: Clemens and me separated the places in two parts: the bar was the separation line and I photographed the regulars and the atmosphere before the bar, and he interviewed the waiters and owners behind the bar. By that, we wanted to tell the story from two (sometimes) confronting perspectives. The photography itself was quite basic, it was more about just being there, getting to know the people and finding a way they trusted me.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Golden days before they end

Your work Golden Days Before the End perfectly encapsulates an engaging and entertaining set of witty photography. How did the project come about? And how did you base the design scheme?

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Golden days before they end

Klaus Pichler

Golden days before they end

Klaus Pichler

I do lots of commissioned work and if some kind of wit is wished, it is luxury, but if not, I am okay with it, too. The only thing which is necessary is that the commission has to interest me in any way, be it photographically, socially, or from the surroundings and settings. My approach is that creating photo projects must make me happy. I am working on my projects for years and the only way of getting myself motivated and hooked is when I like the process of creation.

The Importance of Graphic Wit

Klaus Pichler

Golden days before they end

Klaus Pichler

Your work can sometimes be very rude, at what point does it become too much? My border is where the photos can be harming the depicted people. Especially in the case of the bar project, we decided not to use some photos because they were done when people were absolutely drunk and forced me to do some photos I did not want to do, but had to in order to remain accepted and welcomed in the bars. These photos remain in my archive but I will never publish them.

The Importance of Graphic Wit