The day we turned airiness into a memory
Germany
2020
It is night-time on the beach of Beauduc, in Camargue. Five carefree adults are swimming, smoking, dancing. They marvel together at the show that nature is giving them, not realising that one day, this suspended place will no longer be.
This project was born of a parent’s cry as she became aware of the ambiguity of a world where the foolish actions of adults clash with our children’s urgency. It expresses our insolence, shows our carefree attitude, which we take away from them and keep, jealously and selfishly, to protect our quality of life.
There is also an underlying need to be forgiven. Henrike Stahl tells the story of a paradox through a sensitive and immersive installation. The movable, faded – almost erased – photographs, give a glimpse into a drowning future, our children’s lost (stolen) carefreeness.
Text by Marie Benaych and Romain Bitton / imprévues
With the support of Goethe Institut
Portfolio
About the artist
Henrike Stahl is an artist photographer born in Germany in 1980. Now working in Berlin and Paris, this self-taught artist with a passion for fashion blends photography, painting and graphic design.