A Conversation with Katrin Korfmann, "Augenblick," Bradwolff & Partners, by James Scarborough
March 26, 2025
In "Augenblick," Katrin Korfmann disrupts our conventional understanding of the photographic moment through compositions that collapse multiple temporal dimensions. Her work deliberately subverts Henri Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment" by creating layered visual narratives where urban spaces become stages for human performance and social interaction.
Korfmann's images of freerunners navigating Amsterdam's architecture and surfers riding artificial waves in Munich reveal how citizens reclaim and transform public spaces in unexpected ways. These works function as documentation and artistic reinterpretation. They challenge us to consider the constantly shifting relationship between people and their built environments.
What makes her approach compelling is her technical process; it operates at the intersection of traditional photography and digital manipulation. These compositions reflect not a single captured moment but a constructed reality that paradoxically feels more truthful than conventional photography.
The inclusion of video installation adds kinetic dimension to the exhibition to show how movement transforms space. In an era dominated by algorithmic imagery and virtual experiences, Korfmann's work reminds us of photography's power to not just document but to question. The exhibition invites us to pause, literally and conceptually, and reconsider how we experience time, space, and community in our increasingly mediated world.
Below follows an email conversation with Katrin Korfmann.
JS: Your exhibition "Augenblick" brings together new and existing works that explore photography's boundaries. What drew you to investigate the representation of time and space in your practice?
KK: For me, these two aspects, time and space, have always been the most fascinating ingredients of photography. Photographic indexicality and interpretation are based on the photographic language of the past. I am interested in playing and undermining the photographic language we know, specifically its relation to space and temporality, by drawing attention to its limits. I intend to challenge the viewer in their interpretation of a picture.
JS: The exhibition includes images of freerunners in Amsterdam and surfers in Munich. How did you select these specific urban activities? What technical challenges did you face when capturing these dynamic subjects?
KK: I am investigating and depicting how people navigate and reappropriate urban spaces and reinterpret them according to their own interests and needs.
At the heart of the city, surfers are riding the Eisbach in Munich, a narrow, man-made river with a permanent wave. In doing so, they claim this public space of the city, enjoying the rivers and their own movement. Freerunners navigate the city of Amsterdam by using its architecture for other purposes than it was designed. They are moving through the urban space according to their own needs and rules, using the space in a creative and very different way than it was designed for. Technically it is a challenge as they are moving so fast and I try to capture many frames of their movement.
I am currently testing the Sony a9 III high speed camera able to capture 120 raw images per second.
JS: Your work challenges the concept of the "decisive moment" in photography. How has your approach to time evolved since your early studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and your residency at the Rijksakademie?
KK: During my study, I was already very much interested in the temporal aspect of photography. I worked extensively with long exposure times, photographic sequences, and so-called photographic installations in public spaces. In these installations, I tried to radically challenge temporality in my photographic practice: I completely eliminated the decisive moment by creating large-sized walls that I placed in public spaces. The wall forms a screen against which, as is the practice at a photo studio, people appear as models disconnected from their context. This theatrical installation forms research into the process of perception involved in making photographs for which we inevitably make choices in how we frame our surroundings. Here, I do not decide upon the decisive moment or the perspective of the registration myself but create a situation in which this responsibility is given to the participant of the work, the audience.
JS: The exhibition includes video installation alongside your photographic works. How does this medium expand upon or complement the themes you explore through still imagery?
KK: The installation includes two video works. The first one, ‘Blue Octagon’, is an observation of the latter installation in Public Space seen through 4 simultaneous cameras placed opposite each other, and facing the octagonal shape of the installation inwards. By offering this 4-perspective moving frame, people are observed from all sides while moving in opposing directions. It creates an uncanny movement that is different from how we perceive movement in public space.
The second video, ‘Augenblick,’ is a black-and-white moving image of a free runner hanging in the air between clouds. In a video loop, the focus changes slowly from a sharp image into a movement blur. Photography’s capacity to stop time is an illusion as it is that blurry images are tied to movement. It is our visual literacy based on technical developments of photography that define our interpretation of a photograph. But the medium is constantly changing. Therefore, our perception is in need of questioning and reviewing its indexicality, and this is what I want to bring into play here.
JS: The Gallery text mentions three dimensions of time: creation, representation, and experience. How do you balance these temporal aspects when conceptualizing and producing a new work?
KK: These three dimensions are the subject of my PhD research, performing research in and through artistic practice: The ‘temporality of making’, namely the photographic practice and photographic technology; the ‘temporality of representing’, specifically as the image or code; and the ‘temporality of experiencing’, manifested in the receiver interpretation.
JS: Your concurrent participation in "Endurance" at the Noordbrabants Museum connects art with sport. How do you see the relationship between physical discipline and artistic practice informing each other in your work?
KK: I am interested in depicting movement and play in public spaces. Sports beautifully combines these two topics. It is a social and spatial practice at a given moment, where people physically engage with each other. Both sports and arts challenge the body and mind, crossing boundaries and providing space for social change.
JS: As both a visual artist and educator at KABK, how does your teaching practice influence your artistic research, specifically, your current PhD work at Leiden University?
KK: I genuinely enjoy the interplay of artistic practice, research, and education at both the MA and BA levels. They inspire and benefit one another. Having a strong research community during my PhD is invaluable, particularly for learning from each other and discovering new methods in my practice. Interaction with younger generations through teaching keeps me sharp and encourages me to reconsider everything I take for granted.
JS: Your compositions reveal how public spaces constantly change through human interaction. In what ways do you see your work as a form of social commentary on urban planning and accessibility?
KK: It might be more of a comment on urban interaction and could serve as a reminder that public spaces are core value spaces of human community and intrinsically important for what it means to be together and the necessity of public place for exploring social exchange.
JS: The exhibition title "Augenblick" refers to a momentary glance or instant. How does this concept reflect your philosophical approach to photography in an age increasingly dominated by algorithmic and virtual imagery?
KK: The term Augenblick is not tied to a specific temporality. An Augenblick can happen in the present, past, or future. It can be a stretched temporality or an instant. However, it is a highly personal and subjective moment and etymologically tied to the human body: the eye and the act of sighting, which both need to redefine their relation to photography in the age of machine learning.
JS: Through your layered compositions, you invite viewers into a dialogue about their surroundings. What responses or realizations do you hope audiences will take away from experiencing your work?
KK: I hope the audience will reconsider their gaze on social constructions by causing a moment of doubt when looking at my work. I intend to unfold in dynamic dialogue with the social constructions associated with specific public spaces and to present a photographic vision that can help create imaginary perspectives for alternative spaces, worlds, and views.
The exhibition runs from March 22 through Saturday, May 3, 2025. Bradwolff & Partners is located at Lijnbaansgracht 314
1017 WZ Amsterdam. Hours are Thursday – Saturday 1-6pm. For more information, click here.