Sandro Diener
Furkapass, Engadin, Switzerland, 2012
Archival pigment print
90 x 120 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs
Sandro Diener's landscape photography transports us to another planet. Whether in the Alps, in eastern Europe or Iceland, Sandro Diener waits for that magical moment when earth, light and weather fuse to create a setting that is alien, almost surreal. He does not take photographs of landscapes but reveals their magnitude. He strips them of the banal and devotes himself to an aesthetic based on simplicity.
Familiar or foreign terrain: in Sandro Diener's photography everything coalesces in a topography that is both timeless and placeless. Cliff formations are turned into a stage and clouds set a mountain in motion. Stone, grass, light and mist are all parts of a photographic painting.
As observers, we have the same experience as the photographer during the act of photography. Photography enables us to take a step back from the world. And the same thing that happens to seafarers happens to us. Land suddenly appears in front of our eyes: familiar, yet with nuances of which we were not previously aware.
