Interview: Oliver Raschka on his practice and the creation of his archival project 'Sorrow Is All The Pain Of Love'.
How did you begin this project?
That's a very good question. The project probably already existed when I took my first photograph over 25 years ago. After all, Sorrow Is All The Pain Of Love is archive work. I have currently focused on the period from 2010 to 2024. But the work isn't finished yet. I'm still reviewing my archive, but at the same time I want the result to be a self-contained and coherent series.
How does mental health or wellness factor in your work?
First of all, it is important to understand that mental health is characterized by having the right feelings in the right moments and developing a constructive way of dealing with negative experiences in particular in order to gain strength from such situations. So, it's not about being "happy" all the time.
Therefore, I’m trying to find a deeper approach to mindful photography with this work in order to develop myself personally.
In Sorrow Is All The Pain Of Love, I explore how personal traumas of serious family events, illnesses and burnout, manifest visually. My family history is characterized by love and understanding, but also by loss of my mother, drastic family upheavals, addiction issues and communication disorders. Aspects of grief and caring for family members and friends are also covered. In addition to these mental experiences, there are also personal events such as burnout or serious illnesses.
When I feel unwell or to gain clarity about these thoughts and feelings, I primarily look at nature for reflection and trees as a resonance board for growth and development. Since these photographs are taken spontaneously and without a plan based on the specific emotional state at that time, I only came across this behavioral pattern when I was looking through and processing the archive.
Over the years I have repeatedly taken spontaneous and unpretentious self-portraits. What I’ve noticed while working on Sorrow Is All The Pain Of Love is that in the early years, I took self-portraits that were like silhouettes, today they are direct facial images. Behind this is a process of self-acceptance, of accepting oneself with all one's strengths and weaknesses without reservation and of understanding that the whole of life is a journey.
What is your process like?
The project is initially purely archive work. If I approached the theme as a rational project, different photographs would emerge. By using photographs that I took unintentionally and unconsciously, I gain authentic and deep access to what really concerns me. The photographs don’t belong to any other series of my works, but are actual sources.
It was only when I was working through the archive for this series that I realized that, as a recurring pattern, photographs of trees, landscapes and self-portraits in particular were important tools for me in overcoming trauma. The urge for further personal discovery is palpable in this work.
Was the process of creating this project helpful for dealing with the emotion you’re describing in your images?
Yes, indeed. The focus is on the process of catharsis and processing. The photographs serve as a kind of symbol for the memories of events and emotional states based on individual incidents. In essence, the photographs deal with the fear of loss and pain in the search for my own identity. As I realized a longer time ago, sorrow is “my theme”, with all the aspects of worry, grief, sadness and loss. Today I can see from the photographs what sorrow can look or feel like to me visually, what different facets and feelings it has. For example, in one of the photographs you can see a female figure with a heavenly glow, but the woman seems unreachable. This may indicate that I was not able to reach a close person communicatively or emotionally. Another photographs shows two polar bears wrestling with each other. This can represent conflicts with a person or the daily struggle to maintain balance.
Nevertheless, it is important for me to make clear that the work is about healing and growing. As dark as the photographs may appear, there is light that promotes strength, inner power and clarity. They explore fundamental questions of social relationships of any kind. But the view of this is twofold: On the one hand, with a view of what was or is and what that does to you: What do I have to burden myself with? What things from my family history do I want to face? Which problems have to do with me or are the problems of others? What does it do to me when I look back on past events? But then above all the constructive view of processing, healing and personal development: Will this get me further in life or will it instead make me instead numb and incapacitated? How can I use my deepest fears in a positive way for myself? How do I gain strength instead of falling into fear and rigidity? How do I gain clarity? What will remain? What am I subconsciously looking for in life and what will I find? Why do I photograph these motifs when I feel uneasy? What feelings and thoughts do the photographs correspond to when I look at them?
For me, this a new and exciting approach to a kind of mindful photography. It’s about using mindfulness in the way of curiosity and compassion as a strength to face difficult life situations with ease and self-confidence. The aim is to derive constructive new courses of action from this awareness-raising process. Working on this project encourages me to talk to people close to me on a new, positive mental level. This releases a whole new strength of liberated life and deeper inner feelings.
At the same time, interviews such as this one or talking about the topic encourage exchange with others who have had similar experiences. Therefore, the process of transforming past traumas is carried out photographically in a more universal nature, which allows these personal memories to be experienced individually by the viewer. The work thus allows others to reflect on their own life experiences and engage with themselves. This creates a new web of connections between us as humans and also allows us to experience how aspects of worry, grief, sadness and loss can manifest visually in a universal way.
What is your relationship to photography?
I would describe myself as a sentimental, creative and open-minded person. Capturing and processing the ephemeral - photography is the best tool for me. All my documentary work is essentially focused on capturing ordinary everyday moments in extraordinary photographs. It is the immediate surroundings and everyday life that shape us. I want to show the beauty and the exceptional in such ordinary moments.
My professional interest also lies in analyzing and reflecting on human behavior. This helps me to capture the dynamics and characteristics of social relationships and psychological states in my photography. However, when viewed in its entirety, photography is only one component. The triad of photography, music and words is my source from which I gain strength and inspiration.
If readers would like to see more of your work, where can they do so?
I currently only have my Instagram account (@oliverraschka). But you can also find my other work at Lensculture or BUMMBUMM Books.
Thank you so much to Oliver Raschka for taking the time to share his thoughts with Too Tired Project. All images used in this post are from his body of work titled ‘Sorrow Is All the Pain of Love’.