At Ostkreuzschule

It took a few cups of coffee and tea

On January 10th, I was invited by Ute Mahler to speak to her postgraduate class at Ostkreuzschule about commercial galleries and the photography market in general, and how it may or may not affect a photographer's practice and career. It had been a while that I gave a lecture in front of a class, which by the way was a refreshingly diverse one (although interestingly almost exclusively female), and it reminded just how much I enjoy teaching photography. As for the topic, I felt a bit uncomfortable "teaching" art/photo students about the commercial art world, given that eyeing the market distracts from one's art practice and subsequently compromises one's art. Therefore, I chose to invite questions by the students beforehand and answer them as honest as possible. I tried to avoid sugar coating the topic and disenchant the art market. Instead I tried to encourage the students to keep producing the work without compromise. Also, as a key point I tried to stress that they should

... get acquainted with curators/critics/dealers of your own generation and foster those relationships, because they are still seeking artists to “discover” and support. In a way, you are building a mutually interested network that will yield the strongest ties and most sustainable benefits within the next 5 to 10 years and beyond. The success of now famous gallerists/critics/curators and artists is a result of an early relationship.

Ute Mahler and her husband and collaborator, Werner Mahler, had invited the postgraduate class, guest professor Robert Lyons and me for the day to their private home 30 minutes north of Berlin. This setting gave the class a more intimate atmosphere and interesting exchanges. My lecture was followed by a discussion about artist/photo books and a work critique. It was long after midnight when I finally crawled into my bed after such a rewarding day.

Robert Lyons and Ute Mahler talk to students about photo books after I gave my lecture