Project: ‘Love Machine'

The Boomers generation received a bit of bad press lately. The media's primary narrative of Baby Boomers is about aging, and about becoming a burden to the next generation(s). Well, yes, but we (Boomers) created the world we are living in now, for good or for bad, and we also paved the way in entertainment, culture and music. And we still have a role to play.

Let’s look at the music created by ‘Kraftwerk’. Over 40 years ago, the German ultra-modern electronic band released a forward pointing record with the title ‘The Robots’. As stated by the band: "We live in a computer world, so we made a song about it”. In fact, they recorded many more songs, featuring topics such as home computers and digital communication. Anyhow, despite the theme of futurism, the production of their albums was completely analogue, and did not involve any computer technology.

In ‘The Robots’, we hear lyrics such as ‘We're charging our battery - and now we're full of energy’ and ‘We are programmed just to do - anything you want us to’. What we are now facing from the results of ongoing technical developments, human skills are indeed being replaced by bots and machines. Another one of Kraftwerk’s songs, ‘Computer Love’ (‘I don't know what to do - I need a rendezvous’), is a prophetic song about finding love via the computer. It was released in 1981, long before the existence of dating apps and cybersex.

Looking at the present day, their futuristic tunes have never been so relevant; you can even order humanised sex dolls. Is this the final answer for all interpersonal challenges and derealisation? As every version of reality is possible nowadays, our ‘Booming’ heroine has just got herself a brand-new toy. Her long-lasting desire came true, finally. Bless them both; now plug it in!

Note: no AI involved in this picture, this content is a real piece of handcrafted art, trust me!

For those who want to know more: a radio documentary about Kraftwerk is soon coming to BBC Ratio 3. It is called ‘Music for Motorways: Autobahn at 50’ (50!). Broadcast time: 1st November 2024, 10pm (and on BBC Sounds thereafter).

'fLIP Magazine No58', Sommer Issue 2024

The latest fLIP* magazine is out now, highlighting the theme FOUND / AS FOUND. Consequently, my contribution is about something that I once found - really really close to me. Here is the story:

'On My Plate, Critters!'

Meet the fraternity of unwelcome guests. All are real, and crossed my home, or houses and bodies of friends. The senior ones (the lice) are over 30 years old; we trapping them on cello-tape, then put them behind glass (a diapositive frame) and scanned them for future reference (though that was decades later).

30 years is a long time, long enough to encounter more such visitors. Eventually I had thoughts of revenge. And here we are: “As you were helping yourselves, uninvited, to fluids, I’ll put you on the plate. Serves you right!”.

Now, justice dispensed. And life continues.

*fLIP is an independent magazine, which is published three times per year by the London Independent Photographers (LIP). It is available at specialized stores across London, including the Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern Bookshop, National Portrait Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop... You can also order the latest issue via the LIP website: https://www.londonphotography.org.uk/magazine/

'The Camera Club' exhibits their 'Members Annual Summer Show', 01.07 - 19.07.24

Thanks to my membership of the Camera Club, there will be a new exhibition opportunity. In less than a month's time, we will celebrate our Annual Member's Summer Show with sixty images on display, two of which will be from my archive. Let me tell you their story...

Reflecting on these two pictures, both taken in Viet Nam for a series of book commissions, and considering their background story, I would like to rename them 'The Bigger Picture'. Not only do the colours match, the stories have something in common, too. They are both speaking of 'Health'.
The first picture (above) was taken in Ha Noi ten years ago. Ta Tong Gian is sitting in his bedroom, surviving... He was a soldier when young. When he returned from the war, traumatized and mentally fragmented, he started drinking and failed to find a job. Rehabilitation was not available at the time, so his family treated him as an outcast. Eventually, Gian suffered from a stroke; he is now half paralyzed which prevents him from leaving his bedroom. He is just sitting there, staring. How much survival can one do?

The other picture is from Da Nang, taken in the Hospital for Traditional Medicine in 2015. Tran Thi Hoa is a pharmacy technician, and she is working in the boiling room, where special ingredients are prepared, and turned into medicine. Hoa’s work is tiring - it is very hot in the room and she often works overtime, but she has to finish the process, and cannot return home until this is done. Her training is from the much bigger hospital in Hanoi, and she is still operating in old ways. Hoa felt that modern and traditional medicine should work together, so that they can reach more people to be treated holistically. I agree, wouldn't you?

Enough said. If you are in London, I’d like to invite you to share further stories from about 40 fellow photographers. The Camera Club Summer Show opens on Monday, 1st July 2024, and the public event is on Thursday, 11th July, from 7pm – 10pm

Venue: Gallery 1885 at 'The Camera Club', 16 Bowden Street, London SE11 4DS

Gallery opening times: Monday to Friday, 11am – 10pm / Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 6pm

Project: ‘Cockney Reflects’

So, what can we reflect on next? After ‘God save the King’ and ‘New Model Barmy’, I had a bit of a creative break, but now we are back with another musical hit of the late 70’s / early 80’s. Not just a musical hit, in this case the hits are quite physical to get the ball rolling…

Inspiration for this image came from the ‘Oi’ band Cockney Rejects. At the height of their musical career they were quite influential for the spirit of the East End of London. The band members were supporters of the football club West Ham United, to the degree that they recorded a cover version of the club’s traditional chant ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’.

Thinking back, the 1980’s felt like rough times for me and my peers, and our frustration about politics, and sheer boredom, was expressed through music, and even street fights and other violent behaviour (such as football hooliganism). Coming to a certain age (and hopefully wiser), edges have softened, and most of us moved on to being more reflective of our cultural heritage.

There are always two sides of the same coin. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside, yoo noh wot ah meen?

Disclaimer: the setting of this picture is fictional, and is not intended to celebrate negative football fan behaviour, violence or anything to do with the far-right extremists. Even the band itself were defending themselves from media claims that they had a British Movement following.

'Food As Medicine' at Gallery 1885: 18.03 - 13.04.2024

What is it about food? Basic human needs? Or sensory pleasure and enjoyment?  

In this exhibition*, I would like to point at various aspects of food, including the importance of community and working with our hands. The aim of my project is to explore how important food can be for our well-being and to re-establish a relationship with the origin of food.

In 2013, at an artist residency in Central Vietnam, I started working on images of small-scale food producers. The project later continued in three different continents.

The first series, 'Made in Vietnam' is honouring micro food production households and features people who are physically involved in growing or producing food from their homes and gardens. I deeply acknowledge how labour intensive it is to produce what we eat and realized, in the Western world, the connection between food and nature seems to be getting lost.

As the project moved on, I made other discoveries. Whereas food production in developing countries is often based on tradition, in London it became a lifestyle choice. Most people in my ‘Made in London’ series previously had a completely different job; they decided to transform their lives by enjoying ‘getting back to the roots’ and being in direct contact with their customers.

The two other countries are Senegal and Bolivia. By then, I became fascinated, if not obsessed with the diversity and abundance of human nourishment. As we moved away from being hunters and gatherers, the production of food has been perfected into an art form over countless generations. The forms, colours, materialities, flavours, and fragrances tell stories of the place where dishes originated as well as off the people who prepared them.

Join me and enjoy a window into the lives of small-scale food producers. The Opening Event is on Thursday, 21 March 2024, from 7pm – 10pm

Venue: Gallery 1885 at 'The Camera Club', 16 Bowden Street, London SE11 4DS

Gallery Opening Times: Monday to Friday, 11am – 10pm / Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 6pm

Public Transport: 5 min from Kennington Tube Station

Project Info: www.astridschulz.com/food-as-medicine

Info Sheet: Dom Museum Wien

*Acknowledgement: With thanks to the the Dom Museum Wien in Vienna, for selecting and printing these images for their show ‘Mahlzeit’ in 2022

‘fLIP Magazine No56’, Winter Issue 2023

News? My picture contribution to the latest fLip magazine is actually not that new, it has been taken in 2012, on an NGO field trip in Central Viet Nam. The topic of the current magazine is ‘Global Warming’, and it features all sorts of creative angles on climate change related issues by members of the London Independant Photographers group.

And the topic of global warming isn’t that new either. Haven’t we been aware of it for a while, watching? The image, featured in fLip 56, is depicting a government worker, pointing at the water level marking at a school at his village, caused by a flood which occurred in 2009. Like many other countries in this region, Viet Nam has been experiencing an increase of climate change issues such as rising seawater for decades. By now, such flash floods are increasingly endangering lives and property in the UK, too. Alarmingly strong winds and heavy rainfalls are happening across Northern Europe more and more freequently, and the summers are measuring record temperatures. Time to roll up our sleeves, not just our trouser, wouldn’t you think?

'The Camera Club' exhibits their 'Members Annual Winter Show', 04.12.23 – 07.01.24

Fab news to end the year with: I recently joined ‘The Camera Club’ in Kennington*. With this membership plenty of opportunities are coming my way, including access to studio space again!! No more ‘al fresco’ shooting in my back yard, at least not in the winter…

Now, as a member of ‘The Camera Club’, I am going to be part of their 'Members Annual Winter Show' from 04.12.23 – 07.01.24 (and then again later in the spring, with a different theme for a solo show). Guests are welcome, so please come along.

The opening event is on Thursday, 07.12.23 from 7pm – 10pm.

Venue: Gallery 1885 at 'The Camera Club', 16 Bowden Street, London SE11 4DS

Gallery opening times: Monday to Friday, 11am – 10pm / Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 6pm

‘fLIP Magazine No55’, Summer Issue 2023

Remember my 'God Save The King' t-shirt? I had to go to Edgware on the Northern Line in order to get them printed. Long boring journey, so I thought. But then I discovered how the view changed as soon as we got out of the tunnel. Inspired by the suburban pattern and structures outside, I started taking pictures of what I could see through the door windows.

3 month later, some of them are now featured in the latest fLIP* magazine, on two double-spreads!

I called the series ‘Zone 4’; the topic for fLIP 55 is ‘Urban’. I have always been fascinated with details and texture, and all those seemingly mundane things that surround us, not just in nature but also in the City. Mostly, we don’t really take any notice of them (even worse nowadays, as everyone is just staring at a mobile device). Wake up, people, the world is a treasure trove, there is inspiration everywhere!!!

*fLIP is an independent magazine, which is published three times per year by the London Independent Photographers (LIP). It is available at specialized stores across London, including the Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern Bookshop, National Portrait Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop... You can also order the latest issue via the LIP website: https://www.londonphotography.org.uk/magazine/

Project: ’New Model Barmy’

The topic of the Boomers generation is a great source for fun and reconciliation... After ‘God Save The King’ earlier this year, I decided to extent the idea by creating a tribute to people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom.

How did we (yes, I am a boomer, too!) shaped history - and how we are still playfully making a mark on the planet? Well, for me it was all about self-expression through music. That’s why inspiration for this photo were taken from:

New Model Army (1): an English rock band formed in 1980, in Bradford, West Yorkshire. They took their name from the New Model Army (2), a standing army which existed from 1645 to 1660, formed by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, which lead to the execution of King Charles I.
Barmy Army (1): an English football chant, in which supporters of a team would chant that they were the team manager's "barmy army". The term Barmy Army (2) was later applied to a particularly "barmy" group of supporters who followed the English cricket team to Australia during the Ashes series in 1994–95, despite the team being seen as having little prospect of success.
Barney Bubbles: an English graphic artist (1942-1983). His distinctive style was hugely influential and mainly used within the British independent music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His most recognisable output was record sleeves, laden with symbols and riddles. He also happened to design a cricket poster, which inspired poster no1, the blue one with the matches…

Big THANK YOU to my models & creative collaborators Michael Qureshi & Philip Philmar. All BOOMERS, of course! The posters were purposely created for this project; they are totally fictional, based on the thought: ‘let’s get hit by waves of sound’… TBC.

Project: 'God Save The King'

A big birthday looms, which has lead to contemplation and lots of reflection… Some time ago I read a Blondie interview; she mentioned that she still felt young inside her shell, but when she looks into the mirror, she sees a completely different person. Know the feeling?

Inspired by the current occasion of crowning a new old King (who waited all his life for this to happen), and that rather fabulous TV series ‘Pistols’ by Danny Boyle (OMG, that’s 46 years ago!!), some ideas popped into my head on how to express my personal confusion about the sense of age; where I was coming from and where I am right now.

For those of us who are old enough, remembering the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977, Vivienne Westwood's radical contribution to fashion and how the Sex Pistols overturned the music industry, let’s be assured that we made our stamp in history, and we will continue to do so!
Big thank you to Phil Philmar who made a massive contribution to the design and the existence of the picture above, and all of our photo shoot supporters who bought a t-shirt*, and especially to Richard Jackson for his genius topiary skills in Warwickshire.

If you have any thoughts on the topic (or the picture) drop me a line. In the meantime, GOD SAVE US ALL!

'fLIP Magazine No54', Spring Issue 2023

Another fLip magazine appeared in special bookshops! This year’s Spring issue is called ‘Awareness', and includes an image I took in 2012.

This image has been taken for a PhotoShop course, which I was leading back then. It was for an exercise about masking and compositing. My friend Phil Philmar stood in as my model, and he asked all his clones to participate. Which one was the real Phil?

Taken in Letchmore Heath, with the much appreciated assistance of my lovely friend Nila Simon Sanchez, and Morris, the car; it loves being featured, I know this for a fact. Honk honk!!!

*fLIP is an independent magazine, which is published three times per year by the London Independent Photographers (LIP). It is available at specialized stores across London, including the Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern Bookshop, National Portrait Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop... You can also order the latest issue via the LIP website: https://www.londonphotography.org.uk/magazine/

'fLIP Magazine No53', Winter Issue 2022

A new flip magazine* came out just before Christmas. This year’s winter issue is called 'Space', and includes an image I took in 2019, commissioned by writer / actress Kate Gilbert.

When setting a cabaret show under the title `Lost & Found’, Kate became enchanted by objects from a junk shop next to the performance venue.  So, when she requested a poster for the event, I developed a Dada inspired collage, around the theme of being lost in a universe of personal memories, and of craving to be rescued by true love. And voila, here it is, found again! I’d be interested to hear of what it conjures up for you.

*fLIP is an independent magazine, which is published three times per year by the London Independent Photographers (LIP). It is available at specialized stores across London, including the Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern Bookshop, National Portrait Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop... You can also order the latest issue via the LIP website.

'Mahlzeit’ (‘The Meal’) at Dom Museum Wien, 29.09.22 - 27.08.23

What is it about food? Basic human needs? Or sensory pleasure and enjoyment?

Director Johanna Schwanberg and her team at the Dom Museum Wien are exploring in their current exhibition ‘Mahlzeit’ (‘The Meal’), how ‘food intake’ has been represented through works of art - from the Middle Ages to present contemporary illustrations. The audience might be challenged at times, but humor and irony is winning - and the experience is intentionally thought provoking.

My contribution to the exciting artistic fare is a series of small-scale food producers across 4 different continents. As humans moved away from being hunters and gatherers, the production of food has been perfected into an art form over countless generations. As mentioned in the exhibition catalogue: “Human nourishment spans a broad spectrum. The fascinating diversity of forms, colours, materialities, flavors, and fragrances tells stories of the place where dishes originated as well as of the people who prepared them” (download the info sheet about my images).

Acquired a taste? If you are visiting Vienna within the coming year, please feel invited to come on a journey through this exciting exhibition. Explore how artworks interpret the community-building elements of meals – in families, at public events, and in political and religious contexts of different cultures.

Venue: Dom Museum Wien, Stephansplatz 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Exhibition opening times: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10am - 6pm / Thursday 10am - 8pm / Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays 

‘Fruchtallee’ (aka ‘the artist’s breakfast’) 28.09.22

Spontaneously and rather refreshing: Kunsthalle Linz (K.L.) set up a lovely Vernissage during the opening event of the impressive exhibition "Mahlzeit (meal time)" at Dom Museum Wien.

In keeping with the Dom Museum’s topic on food, I was invited by the two K.L. curators Larissa Meyer and Rebekka Hochreiter(in) to show an extended element of my personal meal time experience. And here we are - the chosen images are demonstrating my favorite morning routine: cutting fruits to enjoy a fruit salad for breakfast. All fruits were consumed in Viet Nam during an artist residency in 2013, in the same year as the foundation of the K.L. museum.

Kunsthalle Linz is radical, flexible and mobile. I meet the two K.L. curators whilst they traveled to the UK, looking for Banksy. Instead they found me - and thanks to their open mind, I was able to enjoy this uplifting opportunity in Vienna. All of us are grateful for the many, many guests that shared that moment with us.

Dom Museum Wien exhibits 'Mahlzeit’ (‘Meal Time’): 29.09.22 - 27.08.23

The Dom Museum Wien, which is part of the Archdiocese of Vienna and home to many cathedral treasures, is also known for combining historical riches with abstract, avant-garde and contemporary pieces from all over the world. For the upcoming ‘Mahlzeit’ exhibition, the museum states: “Eating and drinking are basic human needs, but the shared meal has always been about more than mere food intake.

Sensory pleasure and enjoyment, the foundation of communities, the representation of social status, and ritual acts are only a few aspects connected with meals. It is not surprising that art has always reacted to our ways of having a meal, to our chosen dishes and foods – by representing, analyzing, and abstracting, in both critical and ironic ways.”

With great pleasure I would like to announce that my portraits of small scale food producers (Made in Vietnam / Senegal / London / Bolivia) have been chosen as part of this group show, which will be on display for 11 months. When taking these images, I was paying tribute to people who are making a living from the 'fruits of their hands', as we often forget how labour intensive it is to handcraft the food we eat. In the western world particularly, the connection between food and nature seems to have been lost, and I wish to restore the relationship between consumers, and its actual source.

Opening event: Wednesday, 28. September 2022, 6pm

Venue: Dom Museum Wien, Stephansplatz 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria

If you are visiting Vienna within the coming year, please come on a journey through this exciting exhibition. Explore how artworks from the Middle Ages to the present illustrate the community-building elements of meals – in families, at public events, and in political and religious contexts of different cultures.

Exhibition opening times: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10am - 6pm / Thursday 10am - 8pm / Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays 

Street-art at 'The Rencontres d'Arles', July 2022

Rencontres d'Arles is a photo festival in the South of France. I missed the last 2 years, but this year I had to go... and do something new! So, after major travel disruption to and from the festival, I still managed to bring my lockdown project* back to live: 15 weeks of tea-drinking during the pandemic is now stuck to the city walls of Arles.

Creating street-art was never on my mind, but it was a fun thing to do! On occasion I was aware that there was a dialogue on the walls; people live-posted images to the walls that would relate to each other. In the chosen picture above, I am responding to the grids of the window, the bars which signify the feeling of being imprisioned during lockdown, whilst the background image represents the much missed sensation of coming together during those weeks of solitude.

Now I am back in London, evaluating, whilst the exhibitions continue until end September. I wonder, are my teabag posters still hanging on the city walls one month later?
Each of the 15 posters had a barcode, which is leading to my website. And yes, encouragingly, some visitors to Arles are still responding - everyday there are new scans. Amazing! What an interesting way of communication with total strangers over there in France. Mission accomplished, I guess!

*Project title and link: Subject To Availability

3 Sessions under one Umbrella: 'Step Into History'

As soon as the pandemy had a break, creativity returned: in collaboration with writer/director Jane Sanger, who offers Victorian & Edwardian showreel opportunities to aspiring actors. For this ongoing project Jane creates short stories, inspired by 19th & 20th Century literature (luminofilms.co.uk/workshops).

In addition to Jane’s service, I was commissioned to create portraits of the talents whilst they are still in costume and in the spirit of their particular time frame (above are examples from three different workshops).

In the pictures you’ll meet Simon Bundock, Ellen Waite & Zoe Athill. Newcomer Zoe was recently rewarded with two awards for her role in Jane’s showreel story ‘Keeping up Appearances’ at New York’s ‘Best Actor Award 2021’. Very proud working with you Ladies!

More Images from different sessions: Victorian I / Victorian II / Edwardian

Project: 'My Paralelle Universe'

Looking back - it’s only been a year and a half. So much has changed, so it seems. Was this for real? What happened?

Reflecting - reality seems to be a matter of perception. Contemplating that we live NOW, not in the past and not yet in the future, let’s explore a different concept of TIME. What if time is not linear, what if time is instead cyclical – and (or) made of at least two parallel ‘lines’ of time? As if the future as well as the past is available to us, and everything is happening at once. Is this possible?

The project ‘My Parallel Universe’ is playing with perception, too. I found all those old travel cards in my shelve among old tax papers and paired them up with events and observations as they were unfolding. Whilst physical travelling is currently obscured, time travelling in our mind is endless. Come on a personal journey with me!

LDVA Gallery: ‘make something that makes you feel good’

It’s not over yet, still drinking tea - and with me the LDVA Gallery. 6 artists came up with some real McCoy - we’ll put on a show for you to enjoy. Due to that virus we will be online - it’s free to join, just get your own wine!

LDVA Gallery (#luvagallery) is currently creating an online environment as social as possible, so if you’re feeling in need of some interaction, this will be the perfect opportunity.
During the first lockdown, LDVA asked artists to send them something that makes them feel good! Two lockdowns down the line, 6 artists have been chosen to exhibit their feel good experience. So, take a note in your diary for 25th February, 6-9pm, and you can enjoy much-needed positivity.

Don’t miss out on a ticket for the ‘make something that makes you feel good’ PV, Thursday evening, 25th February, from 18.00 – 21.00

UPDATE: the exhibition can be visited at this link: makesomethingthatmakesyoufeelgood

European Photography Magazine: 'Corona Issue'

Over the course of the hot summer my desire for tea has gone a bit cold, but in October I received some boiling hot news. As we are all connected, with or without the pandemic, my well documented tea-drinking experience (‘Subject To Availability’) has found quite a fellowship in other parts of the world. Just published in Berlin, ‘Subject To Availability’ is featured in a respectable art magazine called European Photography. The magazine features thirteen selected international artists, responding to the pandemic – my teabags included.

European Photography is an independent art magazine for international contemporary photography. Ask for double issue No 107/108 (24 x 30 cm, 112 pages, texts in English & German, ISBN: 9-770172702002). As museums, galleries and art shops are still closed, it be bought online via the Equivalence Shop in Germany.