LOTTERMANN & FUENTES, PING PONG: PILEVNELI | DOLAPDERE

 

"We turn fantasy into reality and reality into fiction. Our creative process always starts with a story, and it is always a fantasy that we try to materialize in our photographs," say Nada Lottermann and Vanessa Fuentes. The Frankfurt-based photographers, who met at school and have been working together for a long time, reflect their outlook on life by taking fun, dynamic, natural and attractive photographs in the fields of fashion, style, lifestyle and everyday life. The figures of the duo, who are mostly known for their photographs using models, sometimes look at themselves, walk on the street, smoke, or party; sometimes they kiss, experience passion and love or rebel. One of the important features of their photographs is the interpretation of different styles and lifestyles with a casual, cool, fun, sexy and dynamic look. Today, as in all visual arts, photography has become a field that goes beyond just capturing the model, the outfit, the right composition and the light, and where storytelling and creating atmosphere come to the fore. Therefore, it is possible to say that Lottermann & Fuentes have created a playful, alluring universe of images in which they have integrated themselves by reflecting the spirit of their times, the visual language and lifestyle of their period. Entrepreneurial, creative, energetic, fast, with a high aesthetic taste, these young women are extremely successful actors who capture the spirit of the time and reflect the creative production style with their glittering lifestyles and exciting projects they realise in different parts of the world.

 

For some time now, the creative industries have been developing more and more inclusive and alternative forms of production, especially by breaking down hierarchical working models and fostering a collective, collaborative spirit. Lottermann & Fuentes are organically involved in these methods by deciding to take photographs together at the beginning of their careers, breaking the dominance of the single dominant gaze. Describing their working process on set as "Double trouble", the duo transformed their strong bond from childhood into a common career path, always shooting with two cameras and four eyes, which, although it may seem difficult, is a very enjoyable and developing process for them: "Because we shoot with two cameras and use daylight and analogue flash instead of a big light construction, we have the flexibility to change shooting angles. We like the intimate feeling of being part of the vibe. Shooting with two cameras also distracts the attention of the people we portray from the reality of being photographed and make the outcome more authentic and vivid." Reflecting how relaxed and natural the physical process before creating the image is, the artists show their adventurous and passionate side through their work for various brands, including Dr. Hauschka, Item M6, Sisley, Closed, Vogue, Cartier, Lacoste, Lala Berlin, & other Stories, Wolford, among others. Hauschka, Item M6, Sisley, Closed, Vogue, Cartier, Lacoste, Lala Berlin, & other Stories, Wolford and prestigious media organisations such as FAZ Magazin, Stern, GQ, Monopol and Die Zeit, as well as through various platforms. Thus, their creative world is not limited to these; with the Ping Pong project, which they have transformed into a kind of action-reaction game, they reach out to their colleagues and friends from different countries, even to people they do not know but whose productions they like, and their dual visual world with a much larger, dynamic, and unlimited potential communication network.

 

In a period where images and visuality have transcended all forms of communication and become the reality of today, where verbal and written forms of conversation have been replaced by symbols, short expressions and image worlds, it is becoming increasingly difficult to actually 'see' what we look at, to establish communions and to deepen them. Visual art objects, on the other hand, have now turned into tools that are spent a short time in front of and looked at quickly, meeting the audience through perhaps overly flamboyant spaces and fictions in order to challenge decreasing levels of concentration. In such a time, projects that can break the routine of a classical exhibition-artist-audience hierarchy and create an atmosphere and experience that open space for collective sharing have become even more valuable. The artist duo's Ping Pong project is an interactive image game that brings together photographers from different parts of the world - or their friends who love to take photographs - in a course of time between the production and the final show, offering the viewer a multiple perception. In this project, the duo sends e-mails to the opposite side with a particularly chosen photograph and asks their colleagues to respond with a photograph they have either just taken or that they have chosen from their body of previous work. What binds the two images can sometimes be obvious, otherwise hidden in the details, metaphorical, or completely formal. In a time when we have shorter attention spans, artists who are successful at paying attention to the small things, empathetically connecting with others, and inventing new narratives by fusing disparate visual realities sensitively reflect the non-verbal communication techniques at the foundation of photography.

 

During the exhibition process, Lottermann & Fuentes and their collaborators, to whom they responded with photographs, become anonymous and meet under two titles, and the duo only sets the rules of the game - as a kind of quarterback - and becomes the mediator for the emergence of a new visual narrative. At this point, the narrator, the artist, the viewer, and the gaze in the photograph, all merge together, stretching the positions of the gazer and the viewed, and transforming into a pleasant struggle that also leads to capturing visual details. Photography is no longer an object to be viewed, but a tool of experience in which the dialogue and dynamic between the producer and the viewers are reconstructed. There is another important point here; while most artists construct this experience by focusing on the viewer's connection with their work, the duo prioritises those who share their own practices and create the images themselves. Thus, a partnership is established with other photographers for the creation of the work, leaving the interpretation of the final stories to the viewer.

Of course, the key word here is 'interaction'. While we live in an abundance of words and images, it is becoming more and more valuable to give time for interaction, to be able to notice the details subtly, and to give an authentic response to what we look at and perceive; whether humorous or serious, sad or joyful.

 

After exhibiting their series titled "Ping Pong" for the first time in Turkey at PİLEVNELİ Yalıkavak, Lottermann & Fuentes is presenting these co-produced binary images to the audience this time at PİLEVNELİ Dolapdere, with the support and cooperation of Pilevneli. Joining forces with the gallery and including many names from Turkey in their Ping Pong process, the duo continues on their path by adding new ones to the friends they have collaborated with before. Expanding their visual world through the exhibition, the artists, who can adapt and transfer their games from region to region by opening images to different perspectives, bring photography back into our lives as a performative space.

 

Cihan Bacak, Maxime Ballesteros, Okan Bayülgen, Bulatagramm, Claire Cottrell, Adrian Crispin, Can Dağarslanı, Roger Deckker, Roger Eberhard, David Fischer, Nadine Fraczkowski, Albrecht Fuchs, Esra Gülmen, Frank Griebe, Markus Jans, Daniel Josefsohn, Olaf Heine and Thomas Kretschmann, Gökhan Jimo Koşar, Peter Langer, Nicole Lesser, Kristin Loschert, Frank Lottermann, Yiorgos Mavropoulos, Aaron McElroy, Fırat Meriç, Timurtaş Onan, Gizem Özçelik, Stephanie Pfander, Bulut Reyhanoğlu, Mary Scherpe, Frank Seidlitz, RJ Shaughnessy, Arslan Sükan, Ali Emir Tapan, Ali Taptık, Tarık Töre, Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu, Tania et Vincent, Camille Vivier, Andreas Wellnitz, Olivier Zahm.