Dear Glorified Fountain,...

About Anika Neuß

Anika Neuß describes herself as a top-heavy conceptional and perfectionist photographer. The chosen subject and its approach are in the center of her process. She describes the process as daily continuous thoughts being forced into an idea of a picture over time. 

Her work is influenced by psychology, religion, forensic and medical science and theory of photography. She gained her first experiences in photography through the documentation of patients and medical applications during her apprenticeship as a media designer at a University Hospital. Thereafter she worked as a lithographer for publishing houses, photographers and artists. Within her bachelor’s studies in communication design she developed her own ideas and projects in different genres for the first time. She was focused on conceptual work and identity became her main topic of focus. During her master’s studies in photography and media her interest in psychology, neurology and especially identity disorder was further developed.

Anika Neuß was born in 1986 in Germany and earned her master’s degree at the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld.

How did you get into photography?
I got into photography by my father as a child. He´s a hobby photographer since many years. The decisive reason for me becoming a photographer was the experiences during my studies as a communication designer. Therefore I decided to study photography at a masters degree level.

What are you looking for when you step out with your camera?
I never or really rarely step out with my camera and take pictures freely. If I have an idea I'll take the picture very concentratedly. In daily life I often see a lot of interesting things and in special little interesting moments between people like a look, a gesture or mimicry. But in my opinion it isn't possible to capture that in one picture.  

Do you impose any technical limits when you are taking photographs?
No, I have no limits while taking photographs. I try to maintain all opportunities and find the best solution depending on the pictures requirement.

Are your photographs shot in an constant or slowly composed?
My photographs are more likely diligently thought out. The implementation is open for slightly coincidences.

How has new technology affected the way you work?
In my view new technology makes a lot of various ways possible to realize an idea (meaning different media). On top of that, technology allows a lot of tampering with pictures like in advertisements for example. I'm critical of this or rather I consider that a picture should be faithful, up to a certain point at least.

What is distinctive about your approach?
My themes about identity, psychology, religion and beauty or rather about the feeling of beauty in the digital area of self-marketing, searching for oneself and self-acceptance. The link between the different works is the attempt to test the limits of mental, pathos and truth in photography. I want to create an entity in my photographs.

Are you more drawn to interior or exterior spaces?
Maybe more interiors in studios or closed rooms.

What is the sense of space you want to convey in your photographs?
My works are more about a mental space maybe, less about a physical space. 

Please describe where you live
I live in a little town in Germany. It isn't really special, but I like it here. The town is small enough to encounter acquaintances on the way, we have a tram with four routes and some well-known companies. I'm more inspired by reading books or watching films.