Ralf Cohen: Synthese

Ralf Cohen uses a wide range of possibilities to manipulate the material of photography. In the beginning he stayed within the limited conditions of the darkroom. Now he additionally uses external factors from nature to transform the visual material embedded in the gelatin of the baryta paper, for example, in his works entitled “NEULAND." The treatment is done manually and shows a high level of knowledge and skill in handling of developer and fixer. Finely graduated overexposure, negative prints alienated by color filters and reversion, and the deliberate use of the effect of light and shadow work against accustomed viewings. The aim of Ralf Cohen’s art is not superficial visuality but a vision of hidden and invisible elements behind material objects. In his images Ralf Cohen “exposed” some of them for us.