Erwin Rachbauer
Erwin Rachbauer
Erwin Rachbauer’s Photography: A World of Contrasts
Erwin Rachbauer discovered his passion for photography at the age of 17 and has since devoted himself intensively to the medium. His work was significantly influenced by a close friend, the late artist Josef Pausch, who encouraged and supported his photographic ambitions.
Through extensive travels to various countries and cultures, Rachbauer not only broadened his artistic horizon but also developed a unique photographic perspective. His engagement with people, their living environments, and material structures shapes his body of work.
Erwin Rachbauer lives and works in Linz, Austria. His photographic oeuvre encompasses both short- and long-term series, including Mensch und Materie (Man and Matter), My Face, and Menschen in Metropolen (People in Metropolises). His work has been published in art magazines and reflects the diversity of human expression in urban and cultural contexts.
Under the title "TRUE MOMENTS 1986 - 2016"
Three short videos aim to underscore and document Rachbauer’s transformation from a commercial photographer to an artist.
1st Video: "Human and Matter"
The theme of transience, the aura of limitation, and the perfection of imperfection are reinterpreted by Erwin Rachbauer. He breathes new life into old instant film material (Polaroids) and various film footage, redefining and reworking it into a fresh artistic expression.
This material, whose days are numbered and which is on the verge of vanishing, is prepared for its great and irretrievable moment – the True Moment, which plays a crucial and defining role in Rachbauer's photography.
Fundamentally, Erwin Rachbauer’s visual worlds are always subject to an expiration date, an imperfectly functioning camera world, expired film material, and temporal situations that will never exist in the same way again – his own unique Artistic Expression.
2nd Video: "My Face"
Erwin Rachbauer’s photography is highly multifaceted. In the late 1980s, he encountered and documented people, capturing the status quo after physical and cosmetic surgical interventions for posterity.
At that time, cosmetic surgery (performed by Dr. Wolfgang Metka) had not yet achieved the level of societal acceptance it has today, and local offerings were limited. Through his lens, Rachbauer preserved a visual testimony of a time when aesthetic surgery was still an emerging phenomenon, reflecting the evolving perception of beauty and identity.
3rd video: "People in metropolises"
Erwin Rachbauer’s street photography in the world’s metropolises captures everyday urban life in the age of digitalization and mobile communication. The contrast with older images is striking: the smartphone has become an integral part of the human presence in public spaces. This observation intrigues him and plays a significant role in his Menschen in Metropolen series, forming a key aspect of his street photography.
At the same time, he finds himself at home in the metropolises of the world, aiming to document the rapid transformation brought about by mobile technology. His work reflects the shift from individuals engaged in phone conversations to the collective phenomenon of mass mobile phone use in public urban spaces. Beyond that, he remains deeply inspired by classic street photography, capturing the dynamic interplay of cities, people, and architecture in densely populated areas—preserving the essence of urban life in the present moment, spanning the turn of the millennium and beyond.
