We don’t appreciate photography as much anymore, with cameras in every pocket. Jan von Holleben, a German photographer, sees the world differently. In the last 25 years, he’s built vast compositions from people and everyday items and captured them with his Leica. He has taken on his largest project to date – realising 489 visions from schoolchildren in the Zingst region of northern Germany.
Rainbow Robot Space Ice was Jan’s contribution to the Horizonte Zingst Photography Festival. The event will feature 23 stunning and gigantic photos displayed on the beach, with the waves of the Baltic Sea as their backdrop. This year’s festival theme is resources. Jan used a fascinating creative process to create his images.
Hyper Sprocket rocket
Freund e Freund
“I prepared a brief questionnaire on resources and distributed it to 489 children from elementary schools in Zingst and the surrounding area. I wanted to find out what resources they already had, what they lacked, and what innovations they would like to see in the future. Jan says that the answers were creative and critical, both in written form and as sketches.
Jan, combining the ideas of children, identified themes like environmental issues, peace in the world, friendship, science, fun and much more. As he planned his series, Jan gathered the ideas of the children. In some cases, however, he chose to translate single ideas into photographs.
Ali’s rocket-powered boots.
Ali, an eight-year-old boy from the United States, had drawn some rocket-powered shoes. Jan says that the idea was so simple yet so clear. “When I decided to shoot it, Ali came along, and I asked him to give me more details and if he could model his legs. Ali was both an equal partner in the project and its art director.
Jan and Anna Schaflein, his Berlin assistant, loaded props in a van and drove to Zingst, where they were joined by the children. They also became part of Ali’s compositions and added more props to the image, like the dozens of digital and analog clocks that make up the Once Upon a Time Transporter.
“I share a lot of similarities with children in terms of problem-solving,” says Jan. “We both do it by playing.” We share the same unrelenting energy and limitless potential. You can achieve more by collaborating with many creative minds. It was like watching a bunch of racing car drivers go in the same direction.
Jan and Anna were riding a wave for a whole week. The week was filled with late nights, early breakfasts rushed lunches, and a lot of time spent arranging the children and props and then climbing up the stepladder using a Leica SL3 and Elinchrom flashes.
The Universal Help Robot
The children expressed their dreams of travelling to outer space in the Hyper Sprocket Rocket, and Jan brought it to life before their very eyes. In the Once Upon a Time Transporter, children are dressed in different costumes to represent the periods they want to visit. Rapid Research Lab, meanwhile, recycled old pipes from an adjacent public water park.
The project is very important to Jan. She says, “The work will be exhibited and the energy and result are incredible.” The beach will be covered, and there will also be a Photo Fun Park that I created. I would love to do similar projects in other cultural environments, one or two per year.
The beach exhibition at Horizonte Zingst opens on 23 May. Rainbow Robot Space Ice is on show at F3 Photography Space in Berlin from 3 to 15 Jun. A documentary film about the work has also been made.