My laudatio at the opening of the exhibition ‘Touching from a distance’ by Marcel Rauschkolb lets dive into a subtle, multi-layered world of photography. Deeply touching empathic words making the audience feel the very personal view of life of a wonderful artist behind the camera and his closely connected, individual path in the light of creative forms of expression (duration of speech 13 minutes).

Please note: the following laudatio has not yet been translated from a native english speaker. Soon to come…

http://www.marcelrauschkolb.de

“Welcome to the exhibition opening of ‘Touching from a distance’ by Marcel Rauschkolb.

What is it where all our longing lives … what do we desire … far away from money, house, career and consumption?

What is it, more than anything else, that attracts us to a good conversation, a fantastic meal, a light-footed evening with friends, a great film, an exciting book or art?

Certainly there would be a multitude of answers and motivations, at first glance, but if you dive deeper and deeper, to the essence, there is a common denominator that unites all facets of human longing: it is the longing for touch. Touch is the language of love. It is touch that opens our hearts and makes us flow, makes us happy. The touch of our hearts, our heart’s desires and dreams. Touch is what makes us feel ourselves and life. And it is touch that can tell endless human stories.

Touching from a distance’ is not only an excellent exhibition name. “Touching from a distance’ is a way of seeing, of creating, of creating, even more… It is a way of being. And the fulfilment of our own longing.

Touching from a distance’ describes Marcel’s very personal, wonderful way of telling touching stories. And in any case, his wife Anja also mentions her great gift to give things a form, clarity and structure and to fill what is created with much life, enthusiasm and above all with much heart and to carry it into the hearts of people. 

To me Marcel is a photographic storyteller. And far beyond that. And about all this I would like to tell you now. But before we dive into the poetry of his photographs, I’ll tell you a little about Marcel’s path in the creative world and the people behind it. There Marcel is a discoverer for me, a discoverer through and through, with an incessantly curious spirit of research, which is expressed in all his work.

Even as a young man, before he really absorbed his apprenticeship as an advertising and industrial photographer, which resulted from an internship, Marcel, full of curiosity, dissected record covers, the craftsmanship behind them, their design, and how an idea in spirit is emotionally ignited in people’s minds by photographic technology, light, shadow and colour to make a powerful statement.

So it was not surprising that he got stuck in the studio of his internship, fascinated by technology, spotlights, cameras with their own history and delicious design, infinite sonorous click-clack of the shutter releases and from the magic of the handcrafted laboratory development… to the final, expressive snapshot, which in all silence can trigger an infinite amount in people, if you follow your craft unceasingly to mastery. But in this case it was never the classic, small photo studio photography with sweetly remembered wedding or family photography. Marcel was always interested in that little bit extra, in depth of image and narrative depth. Spontaneously from the moment or according to a precise script. It is therefore not surprising that he was fascinated by documentary reportage photography as well as expressive portrait photography, which manages to unfold a comprehensive theme or the personality of a person in the eye of the beholder with a technically skilled shot.

And Marcel was always interested in more in his creative range. Today he not only looks back on 25 years of photography as a constant companion, always with his camera in his hand, but also on 20 years of graphics with a focus on the internet and mobile apps. But also the exciting topic of motorsport photography and the all-encompassing book concept, including design and printing, adorn his path as well as, for example, his collaboration in the design of a special edition watch for the well-known German watch manufacturer Sinn, which he also accompanied photographically.

About his path in his words (quote) “In the end everything connects: what I learn flows into the other. Photography trains the eye for detail, working for new media brings knowledge and inspiration about new techniques and publication possibilities. To combine all this results in endless possibilities – great!

And now I will tell you about Marcel’s photographic poetry, Marcel the storyteller. His photographic stories are not ready-made stories in a story cupboard. There are no drawers, only doors. Doors that you cannot refuse to open. With his language of photography Marcel opens up spaces of associations. He inspires us to tell our own stories, within us, in encounters with ourselves and our lives. But also with our own, because we begin to immerse ourselves and together puzzle what might be behind the captured, mostly human moments. In a documentary and poetic way it touches our personal, individual wealth of experience, our inner attitudes, our longings, our love and passion, our dreams and our own human curiosity.

All this makes him and therefore us tell unique stories, which are like life, in infinite nature. In constant movement, in constant change. From the moment current and the next moment or the next day already completely different, because we are different within ourselves. There is an eternal flow of stories through the continuity of change, although the medium of history, photography, remains one and the same. And in the same way that the most diverse levels within ourselves are touched, Marcel’s pictures open up equally multi-layered levels of association, layers. None of his photographs within the exhibition is satisfied with just one level of experience or perception. None. Like in a collage, the photographic layers of discovery are subtly interlocked and composed on top of each other, and in the overall structure, like in a symphony, they form an enchanting whole. Multifaceted and almost infinite, his associated composition, inspired by his symphony of visual language, carries us. A skilful artistic and technical interplay of colour, light and shadow, geometry and lines, harmony and tension, detail and contrast.

It is an interaction between Marcel and us. With his and our rhythm changes and chords, with his and our highs and lows, with his and our highlights and shades, foregrounds and backgrounds and with his and our soloists, protagonists and antagonists. His pictures are taken from life, are still lifes and poems of the seemingly everyday. What is often lost in passing in the multitude of impressions in our human haste is given a quiet, multi-layered and capturing stage through Marcel’s documentary snapshots. The haste within us is momentarily slowed down and in our perception a narrative treasure of stories spreads out. In this way, the everyday is transformed into something special and pictorial contemporary witnesses of wonderful expressiveness are created. And usually it is the second glance that reveals this level to us with a great surprise effect. It is the first glance that stops and makes us pause and opens the space for the second, which then unfolds the stories within us like a glittering firework of associations.

Marcel creates extraordinary encounters for me. And always what happens happens indirectly. In an unbelievably protected setting that holds us and gives us gifts. Never unnecessarily loud. Never intrusive. Never intrusive. But with a special tenderness, very touching, reserved caution, playful lightness and a very special heart. On quietly distanced soles and yet so incredibly touching and so close. Through the lens in the focus of the neckline as well as in the encounter with us.

I wish you a magical touch and encounter with Marcel and his photographic art, accompanied by an inner firework of stories.”