THE PUPPET MASTER

Puppets have not always just been toys. They have been loaded with meaning in various ways; represented entire worlds; lived in houses like those of their real archetypes: people. Such references play a large role in Alexandra Hager’s aesthetic universe, particularly in the Viennese photographer’s work in fashion and advertising. Clothing enwraps the human figure; the body; giving it identity and meaning. Clothes make the man.

In Alexandra Hager’s staged images, the concept of the “dummy” gets a new, positive connotation. She breathes life into the beings she creates. It seems as though the puppets, for moments at a time, play particular roles in front of the camera, just as puppets take on roles in children’s imagination and play, of which adults can often only perceive a fraction of.

Erotic echoes of the eccentric painter Balthus (1908–2001) resonate subtly in some of the static stage-like images. He turned his back on his era, developed his own figurative imagery, and withstood modernism’s currents such as cubism and surrealism. Similarly, Alexandra Hager’s images are difficult to classify as they are partially swayed by a more fundamental underlying current, which lends it its appeal. The reason for this sensual attraction is the arousal that Hager surely sensed while creating her imagery, and conveyed masterfully through her photography.

Horst Klöver