josef chladek

on photobooks and books

Jörg Colberg - Vaterland, Kerber Verlag, 2021, Bielefeld

Softcover, gatefold brochure, design by Karen Tozzi.

75 years after the end of World War 2, members of an extremist nationalist party have been elected into German parliaments, once more. How was this possible? And what does this tell about a country which has until today not adequately dealt with parts of its own past, particularly with the atrocities committed in the neighboring Poland? Having lived in the US for almost two decades, with Vaterland Jörg Colberg (*1968) attempts to understand what is going on in his native country and, given his own biography, to what extent he still is part of the whole complex. (from the publisher)

I didn’t set out to create what would become Vaterland when I started photographing in early 2017. Originally, I wanted to explore the large region in Europe’s heart whose largest parts are made out of Germany and Poland, Central Europe. On my trips to Warsaw Germany’s past became something that would always only be another serendipitous photographic discovery away. At the same time, the 2017 federal elections in Germany, after which the far-right AfD ended up becoming the largest opposition party, caused enormous outrage in me. That outrage only grew as parts of the conservative spectrum belittled the danger that I have been perceiving the country to be in. I’m neither a journalist nor a documentarian. With Vaterland, I don’t attempt to be either one of these. I intend the book to be what in German is called a Stimmungsbild — a metaphorical image expressing a mood. I don’t have any explanations for what I see in Germany. But for sure I know how I feel. Vaterland is an expression of my unease, of my worries, of my upset, of my realization to what extent Germany and its past are an integral part of my own life. (Jörg Colberg)

Order at Kerber Verlag.

Pages: 96
Place: Bielefeld
Year: 2021
Publisher: Kerber Verlag
Size: 17 x 24 cm (approx.)