Main artist

Christian Gufler | *1971 in Merano, lives in Lana

Christian Gufler is a classically trained photographer 'of the old school', as he himself stresses – trained in Merano and Munich, he has been at home in advertising photography since 1994: mainly cars and fashion, aerial shots from the helicopter, and then, for over twenty years, with his own studio in South Tyrol. Alongside this, his artistic passion grew: he photographs 'lost places', abandoned sites around the world. The allure of the forbidden, the magic of the forgotten and the story behind them: Christian brings the hidden to light, lets the morbid charm of these places shine anew and, with his images, sets himself against decay and transience. An affectionate nudge from a client and fellow artist finally drew him fully into art. At 55 he sells his photographic studio – incomprehensible to others, for him an act of liberation, not least because AI is changing his profession faster than he would like. Today he is seeking a new path: permaculture, being outdoors, spade and pickaxe – and continuing to explore the world artistically with his camera.

“Human Family”
Christian Gufler has brought thirty people before his lens in his studio in Lana – the same light, the same backdrop, the same invitation: among them a nun, a man with paraplegia, a blind woman who plays torball, and an 88-year-old who remembers wartime. The idea came to him in Rome, when he stood still in the middle of a crowded square while people of all nations streamed past him – he was one among many. Here, in Church of the Apostles, he now turns this around: thirty life-size portraits hang from fifteen flags printed on both sides, and whoever walks through has a person before them in every direction. At first Christian wanted to show everyone in black and white, to preserve equality – but as he photographed, he came to see it differently: equal worth needs colour, the red hair, the skin tones, what is each person's own. An audio collage lets each person tell their own story in their own language, so that blind visitors, too, can immerse themselves in the crowd. What began as a concept about equal worth became a lesson for him – listening to thirty life stories changed him. What emerged was a human family.

www.fotogufler.com