Difference & Repetition

Silke Helmerdig, Stefanos Pavlakis, Jens Schünemann, Sabine Wild

A series of images shot in quick succession, the recurrent engagement with a single image, or the camera’s automatic allocation of identical file names: in all of these activities repetition is a crucial factor.

Repetition is inherent to photography. A recurrent act – releasing the shutter – triggers either a chemical or an electronic response that culminates in a reproducible image. This in turn features in, and is informed by, infinitely variable contexts.

But repetition also brings difference into play: two unrelated images are automatically given identical file names; small changes can be noted even in images shot in the exact same situation but in quick succession; and an image repeatedly examined in photographic terms appears different each and every time.

The exhibition presents four photographic approaches to difference and repetition.