Peter Andres, Retrospektive-9

Chapter 11

Reconsiderations

It can happen that you get a hint or a kick from outside, so that you feel called upon to do something specific. This happened when I read through (in other words worked through) a great compilation of the complete works of Rudolf Steiner's work on anthroposophy.

My brother has written this systematic work over 10 years and has now published it in 4 books: (All written in German)

Death, afterlife, reincarnation, karma and the future of humanity from the perspective of Rudolf Steiner

Volume 1:	Death, post-mortal processing of the last life, Relationship between the living and the deceased
Volume 2:	Prenatal existence, reincarnation and karma
Volume 3:	Development of the earth and mankind up to the present day, Meaning of life and the future of humanity
Volume 4:	Glossary: Explanations of anthroposophical terms

And that calls for some thought!

The chapters

Looking at your thoughts...

It could be that you also need a little break to think.

Berlin, Lychen 2018

Watching the thinking...

In this compilation of Rudolf Steiner’s work, I was particularly impressed by the theme of freedom and love, among many other aspects. These themes are also included in some of my paintings, both older and newer.

I therefore had to evaluate some of my work with the new observations I had gained. Result:

My previous attitudes to life have been confirmed
I have not changed any pictures
But descriptions and comments have been added and expanded
Adapted and new websites have been created

Updates are not only available in software development. They can also be found in a retrospective.

New and changed websites

And here is the slide video of the installation Meeting.

What is freedom and love?

Freedom. It is the basis for love and thus the building material for living together. Not just for bon vivants, for all of us!

The word love is used for many things. Even for things that don't contain any love. Like «I love you, but you have to love me too» or something similar. This is nothing more than a deal.
This is about much more, about a mental, spiritual process. About true love. It's about the meaning of life.

So, if you want, you can also get to know my ideas and views. I want to capture them in pictures.

Perhaps one or other of these views are useful or give you even better ideas and possibilities.

Meeting - a variable installation

In this slide video I show an installation that I created at the beginning of 2020.
It's about encounters.

Who am I?
Where am I?
Who is my counterpart?
What's going on here?

Freedom and love are the central themes here.

Visitors can help design the installation themselves. They have the freedom to change the encounters in the installation themselves. This allows them to leave a new perspective for the people who follow. They thereby become part of the work.

Installation 2020, slide video 2024.
PhotoWorks Atelier Peter Andres, Bolligen

An attempt at a retrospective

My photographic career

Well, I am in the last phase of my life. I have done a lot, some works have been created. They are photographs, videos and also pictures that can no longer be described as photographs. I have taken liberties in this regard and implemented them in my pictures.

And how do I judge my work in retrospect? What qualities and statements of the images were important to me?

To be honest, it is not easy for me to answer these questions completely. I have to describe them as provisional. They can change in the future, or I can change them if I want to or have to from an inner drive.

For a very long time, my work has been mainly about these fundamental aspects:

Independence
Honesty
Openness
Willingness to experiment

Education

My way of life laid the foundations for this. My love of photo books of photographic art also contributed a lot to this.

However, workshops with great masters had a great influence and inspiration for my work. In 1978, Jost J. Marchesi was in Portugal. A push in the right direction: look before you press the shutter! This was done with a simple object, a zoom with an extreme wide angle up to a huge telephoto. Everything with autofocus... It was a slide mount.

Soon after that, in 1980, I attended Sepp von Mentlen's workshop in Santorini. This led to a long-term, deep friendship and great discussions.

The decisive workshop was in 1988 with Duane Michals at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles. For me, Duane is the greatest and best photographer in the world! He is the philosopher among photographers. His picture stories are some of the best. I admire his work.

Duane challenged us to use our own freedom and show it in our photography. Big thanks to Duane! In doing so, he hit an openness in me that I had been looking for with my photography since the early 1980s.

My life's journey

I have gained a lot from these workshops for my life. It was never my intention to copy ideas, I wasn't interested in that sort of thing. But they have contributed a lot to giving free rein to my willingness to experiment.

And if you give free rein to your willingness to experiment, you are not necessarily in the «main stream» of general photography. Lived freedom is much more important to me.

The most important subject areas

Coming together
Being with each other
Being with each other
Being there for each other

Sometimes there is a bit of confusion. This is not necessarily what the inventor intended, but even then there can be wonderful moments.

I am — Je suis — I am

Encounter with yourself — Follow me!
A kind of lived multidimensionality with the help of time.

Model: Alexander
Music: Julien Boulier - Empreinte esquisse

And what is my work about?

Coming together, being with one another was and is something very essential in my pictures.
This of course also includes being together, touching and feeling each other. This can be clearly seen in nude pictures, for example.
This togetherness can also be expressed without physical contact and have a purely spiritual effect.
The main basis for these aspects is freedom. Unconditional freedom!
This enables the most important thing in life: love. Unconditional love! And showing exactly that in pictures is my main concern. Sometimes it works, not always, but I keep at it...

Structure of the video

The video consists of a selection of 76 photos from a photo session in June 2020. The individual photos are long exposures and have not been altered in terms of imagery. All image editing was done in the video.

One of the photos for the video — Alexander — one of the photos for the video

► More about multidimensionality

And an outlook

On the last phase of life

I have reached the last phase of my life. That changes a lot in life. Some things are harder, others are easier.

But: you have more time to think about your own life and the situation we are in.

What is life about, what is left?

Here are some of my aspects that I consider important. You can of course have a different opinion. It is your freedom to make a different choice.

Meeting other people at eye level
Freedom, unconditional freedom
Love, true love, without conditions

These aspects are not limited to my photography. They apply to all people and also to everything we do.

Meeting, freedom and love are the foundations of our lives.

It is the only thing that counts at the end of life, the only thing that remains.

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To Chapter 10: Digital–Art To Chapter 1: Foreword, Introduction