Shavings

The photos from the series “Shavings,” which depict the shabby shavings of colored pencils, fall smartly in the style of abstract minimalism. In the series “Silent Warriors,” one encounters the quietly brave heart of the Canadian and North American Indians of the present. Based in Vancouver, Klemm traveled across the country to capture more than standard folklore. He got to know Indians at festivals and on the street, and deliberately photographed them in front of a neutral background. Spontaneous trust was very important to him, as he sought an unadulterated view, free from the shadow of skepticism. His pictures are far from the romantic gesture of the century-old photographs of Edward S. Curtis. The openness with which Klemm encounters the descendants of the Great Warriors mirrors itself wonderfully in many portraits as a reinvigorated self-confidence. In the search for their visage,he gave them something of their inherent value in return.

Stephan Reisner

Artist Statements:

Serie „Shavings“:

My 8 years old daughter Gina and I have been working together on some of her
pencil drawings when I noticed the beautiful spirals of some of the pencil
shavings on the kitchen table. Immediately the work of Richard Serra came in
my mind and Jackson Pollock's paintings. In the following weeks Gina and I
sharpened and shaved hundreds of different color pencils which I then
carefully arranged on pieces of carton to be photographed with a (5x7")
large format camera. I ended up with a large series of abstract all over
glimmering and flickering Impressionist/Pointillist images of a classical
painterly stimulus of color, texture, and pattern. In this case it's not the
remarkable banal subject who makes the picture - it's the photographer!

Serie “Silent Warriors”:

"Micki" Free, father Chererokee, mother Comanche, is a Musician (flute
player) who won a Grammy Award. He lives in Florida where the Seminole
Indians own large Casino's which made many of them rich. I met Micki at the
American Indian Arts Celebration at the Big Cypress reservation in the
Everglades. He is an example of the proud and self confident Indian and his
magic and most beautiful portrait became one of my favorite images.

Well off as well is the 16 years old "Kasey", from the Chererokee Nation of
Oklahoma. His father is a radio host. The whole family worked to assemble
his wonderful traditional dress (regalia) of a so called "Dog Soldier". His
headdress is made of turkey and eagle feathers. They told me that among
Kasey's ancestors was the famous "Sitting Bull". Kasey studies at the
university.

"Dark Feather Moon" from the famous Lakota Sioux has served in World war II
and in the Korean War. He has four kids, his nickname is "Talksalot". He now
is 84 years old and still runs a shop for Native arts and crafts.

I photographed the portrait of "Robert" from the Tewa tribe, New Mexico,
right beside of his parents home, who kindly invited me for lunch. He is
from a well doing middleclass family and the Tewa village of San Juan is a
lovely place to be. Ones again a large Casino near by seems to be the reason
for a newly regained pride and wealth.