“We know that people are formed by the light and
air, by their inherited traits, and their actions. We
can tell from appearance the work someone does
or does not do; we can read in his face whether
he is happy or troubled.”
– August Sander

Marco Bohr offers a composite portrait of our times
in a project that seeks to characterize people
by their photographic likeness rather than just by
their assumed profession. Having grown
up in Germany where since the Third Reich
uniforms and uniformity are avoided, even
despised,
Bohr’s personal attraction towards uniforms was
reasoned with curiosity inspired by the apparent
categorization of employees and workers in
contemporary Japan. Since a uniform can also
be interpreted as a byproduct of cultural and
sociological background, it is once again in
correlation
with the things you do and places you visit. Since
the uniform is merely uniform, attention is
drawn to minute differences in facial expression,
stance or posture – in short, to a unique whole.
One of Bohr’s photographs from this series graces
the cover of this year’s CONTACT magazine.

Artist’s Talk at The Japan Foundation:
May 18, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.