Q&A: Stefanie Moshammer — Grandmother said it’s okay

03.07.22

  1. Q. Have you recently been living by any life philosophy?
  2. A. Always stay away from toxic people.
    Q. What will baffle future generations about our day and age?
    A. That racism, as well as homophobia, transphobia and any other similar kinds of discriminations are still very much present in our present generation. And hopefully our future generation will indeed just be baffled about it and things will be different.
    Q. Are you aware of any conspiracies?
  3. A. I’ve no attachment to it.
    Q. What is it that interests you about photography?
    A. It’s a very flexible medium. It can start with the camera, but then be modified endlessly and further be presented through different materials where the original photograph was just the base.
    Q. What is the worst thing about city life?
  4. A. Too much concrete, not enough nature.
    Q. What part of the planet would you like to explore?
    A. I would love to explore more of Japan. I was there for 3 weeks a few years back and was really fascinated by its people, culture and aesthetics.
    Q. What do you think is the most plausible of the supernatural?
  5. A. That everything is connected somehow.
    Q. If you had to align yourself with a leader in history, who would it be?
  6. A. Cleopatra
    Q. Pick a field of science to be an expert within.
  7. A. Botanic
    Q. What moment have you most wished you’d had a camera when you hadn’t?
    A. When the Notre Dame in Paris was burning. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I raced to the apartment by bike, got my camera and biked back. The cathedral was still burning “unfortunately”, so I was able to capture the disaster. Never before have I felt such an urge to capture history. In general, nowadays it is more rare that I’m wishing I’d had my camera with me. I’m not that much into “spontaneous” image-taking anymore, but rather planned.
    Q. Choose a job you would be willing to do for free on the side.
  8. A. Being a detective.
    Q. Describe the most important photo you’ve seen.
    A. A shocking photo of my great grand-father sitting in between bombs during World War II.
    Q. How often do you take other people’s advice?
    A. If I’m lost, pretty often. If I feel secure with something, not too often. But to me it’s always important to listen, even if I don’t agree with someone’s advice.
    Q. Describe a personal hell.
    A. If I’m coming home to a filthy place.
    Q. On what occasion do you lie?
  9. A. I lie when truth would be more harmful than helpful.
    Q. What was the last crime you witnessed?
  10. A. A cop literally robbing us in Mexico
    Q. What is the best way to educate yourself?
    A, To have interesting conversations and be mirrored by other people.
    Q. What is the next book you want to read?
  11. A. Tractatus by Ludwig Wittgenstein
    Q. Ultimate camera?
  12. A. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
    Q. Most used camera?
  13. A. iPhone
    Q. What object do you want?
    A. My beloved ring that got stolen from my suitcase (lesson learned)
    Q. What object do you need?
  14. A. A time machine
    Q. How would you explain the internet to someone from the 1950’s?
  15. A. An electronic waterfall
    Q. Are you satisfied with your level of physical strength?
  16. A. Definitely. I run every day.
  17. Q. Describe a cheap thrill.
    A. Listening full volume to Sandstorm by Darude
    Q. Pick a historic moment from the last hundred years to bring a camera to.
    A. Well there would be so many. But an historic moment that personally means something to me would be the Ultra Race Spartathlon where my mother ran 246km from Athens to Sparta in 36 hours (non-stop).
    Q. Are impulses more important than consequences?
    A. Impulses are more important, if you can live with the consequences and if the consequences don’t cause any direct harm.
    Q. Which talent would you most like to have?
  18. A. To be able to heal other people’s diseases
    Q. What is your plan for the next 24 hours?
    A. I’m currently sitting in the airplane heading to Switzerland where I’m a guest lecturer at the University of Art and Design ECAL this semester. So I’ll be checking into my hotel, getting up early and then giving feedback to the student’s work all day long.

 


Stefanie Moshammer (b. 1988, Vienna) is a visual artist whose hybrid practice involves various media, always with the attempt to form an internalised repertoire of memories and to formulate them to the outside. Besides the photographic image, she incorporates pre-existing material, textile elements and moving images. Her variant bodies of work explore the mystery of the human condition, as well as the mythology of people and places, while her visual language is steeped in subtext and stories left unseen.
After graduating in Textile Design at the Fashion School Vienna, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design & Photography at University of Art and Design in Linz and she attended the BA in Advanced Visual Storytelling at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. She also did a one-year study of Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Stefanie Moshammer is the author of “Vegas and She” (Fotohof edition, 2014), “Land of Black Milk” (Skinnerboox, 2017), “Not just your face honey” (Spector Books & C/O Berlin, 2018). She received numerous awards and prizes, among others the C/O Berlin Talent Award, Outstanding Artist Award from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts and Culture, Images Vevey Broncolor Prize, Wallpaper New Generation Prize. Her work has been published in various print & online publications, such as i-D, art – Das Kunstmagazin, Zeit Magazin, M Le magazine du Monde, Wallpaper Magazine, Monopol, Harper‘s Bazaar, Numéro, DAZED & many more. Her work has been exhibited throughout galleries, museums and fairs around Europe, the US and China, among others at: Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam, C/O Berlin, Museum of Applied Arts Vienna, Photo London Somerset House, Webber Gallery London, Red Hook Labs New York, Fotografiska New York.

For more information visit — Website / Instagram.