The ‘Reflecting’ pop-up: a play on perspectives and expectations. An interview with Henry Walther, owner of Decor Walther, and photographer Marc Krause
Q: Marc, how long have you been working as a photographer? Has your style changed over the years? Who or what were your key influences?
Marc: It started with commissions during my studies at the HfG Offenbach around 2012/2013, it was a fluid process. I think the decision to develop my own visual aesthetic, to keep working on it and to constantly refine it was particularly formative. What made a big difference was the process of moving away from digital work in order to achieve a certain uncompromising attitude that results from technical limitations. This is a consequence of working with analogue film. Perspectives and condensations emerge in the process.
MARC KRAUSE
Q: How did the joint collaboration come about? How long has it been going on and how would you characterise it? Were there any specific parts of the development process that influenced the project?
Marc: The collaboration began almost two years ago when Sebastian Herkner suggested me as a portrait photographer for his and Decor Walther’s first joint collection. Since then, we've been in regular contact until we started thinking about a new staging of Decor Walther objects in mid-2024. What I perceive as very special is the mutual trust. Before the shoot, we opened up a thematic world we wanted to operate in, with the idea that everything can be an experiment.
Henry: We very quickly found a conceptual harmony, both personally and in terms of working together, which I find very special. The honesty, the lack of exaggeration, the occasional caricature in the sense that he subtly captures contradictions in his work, appeals to me personally and gives me a good feeling of authenticity. Marc's element of the analogue camera is, in our view, the most honest form of illustration. The limitation of the film roll alone forces a focused and more sensitive perspective on the products. This creates a more intensive engagement with the object and offers an escape from the sheer endless possibilities of digitality, which can often lead to a certain form of indiscriminateness.
HENRY WALTHER
Q: What connects Decor Walther and Marc Krause? What is the appeal of the collaboration for you?
Henry: Decor Walther and Marc Krause are probably linked first and foremost by their contrast. Balancing this out is the natural attraction. The process of combining these opposites creates the connection.
Marc: I also think that what always resonates in our collaboration is the desire to develop something new without denying the old - modern without short-lived hype.
Q: What does the project title ‘Reflecting’ mean to you? What insights have you gained from it?
Marc: ‘Reflecting’ is quite an open term for me. On the one hand, it is a very superficial and formal observation, but on the other hand, it is also the process of questioning the representation of the objects anew and trying to redefine them. For me, it's also about leaving questions unanswered.
Henry: We regularly ask ourselves how we can visualise what is special about our products in photography or presentation. The answer was usually: to allow their character, defined by form, materiality and surface, to shine visually. Reflection as an expression of purity and finesse. But also symbolically - quality as a reflection of one's own aspirations and character. But as I said: the pictures are not the answer, they pose new questions.
Q: Marc, what are elements or aesthetic design elements that are particularly important to you when taking photographs? To what extent are these reflected in the ‘Reflecting’ project?
Marc: For me, everything currently takes place within the concept of ‘dialogue’. For the staging of Decor Walther products and objects, together with the styling duo Stilema Studio, we opened up a dialogue between static, hard and shiny surfaces and organic objects that convey a feeling of touch and warmth. I prefer to work in a very honest and straight-forward way - this is also reflected in the technique. I think it's okay or even sometimes desirable to make the creation process visible in the design.
Q: Among other things, ‘Reflecting’ stands for questioning the presentation of products. Your style is known for presenting things in an authentic and unpretentious way - why is that particularly important to you?
Marc: That's true. I like to present things authentically because people quickly see through it anyway when presentations or portrayals are pretentious. You want a long-term commitment and satisfaction. I love showing people things and places that radiate a certain energy of their own; the combination creates something new without alienating the individual components and their peculiarities. I react to the people, the products and the places and draw my creativity from them. As already mentioned, I am interested in dialogue, it is always an interplay.
Q: Who designs the pop-up showroom? To what extent do your previously gathered insights about product presentation and Marc's style influence its design?
Henry: We see the pop-up as a continuation of a new look at our presentation on a very conceptual level. Like the pictures, it reflects the dialogue between closeness and distance. In a figurative sense, through the type of photography and perspective. In the real sense, through the proximity of product and viewer in an exaggeratedly authentic environment.