“The picture with the ice bubbles was taken on the lake “Lake Abraham” in Canada. Despite the warnings of the lodge owner I went to the lake with its almost black ice. The picture is quite abstract, could also be pop art,” says Tom Jacobi

It’s Gallery Weekend in Berlin! Already last week the Hamburg photographer Tom Jacobi opened his exhibition “Into the Light” in the Berlin gallery SRC. Some of his large-format, black-and-white photographs were printed on silk by the Paris luxury label Hermès, which is unique to date. Tom Jacobi was a fashion photographer and art director for Stern magazine. Thereby he almost lost his passion for photography.

MyStylery: Congratulations on your coup with Hermès! How did that happen?
Tom Jacobi: Everybody takes photos on paper and so I had the idea to print on fabric, because I always look for a relation to nature. Silk was an obvious thought. Talks and tests followed and Hermès gave me an unexpected promise. Now the pictures are produced on original silk by Hermès in France.
MS: How old were you when you first held a camera in your hand?
TJ: 14 or 15. I was given a Novoflex and photographed the cat on the windowsill and sunsets.

Tom Jacobi: Peaceful Mind

MS: Back then, did you already have the idea of becoming a photographer?
TJ: Not until I was 17, when a photo of me was published in a book. It showed a Kendo master fighting with a Japanese sword. A sport that I practiced myself at that time. When you see a picture of yourself printed on paper for the first time, it’s a magic that I still feel today.
MS: Do you still print private photos?
TJ: Oh yes, I made a serious mistake when I gave my wife a photo album for her first birthday after we met, with self-adhesive photos, created layouts and handwritten comments. Since then I have been obliged to document our entire private lives and travels in old-fashioned photo albums. (laughs)

Tom Jacobi: Black Line

MS: Your father was the legendary journalist Claus Jacobi, editor-in-chief of Spiegel, Stern and BILD-Zeitung. Did that stop you from going into journalism yourself?
TJ: Totally. I would have exposed myself to the constant comparison. Through my friendship with Sven Simon, the son of publisher Axel Springer, I came to Bonn and worked there in his photo agency. I primarily photographed politicians such as Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl. Later I was a photographer for the “Stern”. With all the risks. During a reportage in Iran they put me against the wall and wanted to shoot me because I was considered a spy.
MS: Was that the reason why you haven’t photographed for 14 years?
TJ: No, that developed during my time as a fashion and advertising photographer. This commercial work and the wishes of the customers, to shoot the coat from the left or rather from the right, the car from above or below, completely drove me out of passion at that time. And why should a well-filled bank account be of any use if all creativity is lost? I just wasn’t happy with it anymore and even sold all my cameras because I was convinced that I would never photograph again.

Tom Jacobi: The Majestic

MS: Now you’re back with the camera. For the current exhibition “Into the Light” you even travelled around the globe for two years together with your wife Kati.
TJ: That was an exciting time, also for us as a couple. We love to be together. Kati also has a big influence on what I photograph. She is my corrective. (smiles) You become humble when you are travelling in the White Desert of Egypt, camping there with two Bedouins, without worrying about safety. In retrospect, it was risky.
MS: It happens that you sit on a cliff for five hours waiting for the right light. What is the right light, the right moment?
TJ: That I cannot say. It’s a feeling. My work has a lot to do with patience and discipline, often I wait days for the right moment, although I have researched the motifs very carefully before.

Tom Jacobi and I in front of a photo in the Berlin gallery SR Contemporary Art, which shows a huge salt desert in Bolivia at an altitude of 4,000 meters. Only during the rainy season water stands on the salt and creates this perfect mirror effect

MS: You are often far away from everything. How do you bear silence?
TJ: I like that very much. Not everyone can stand silence. Once I was accompanied by a friend who got nervous after a short time, which stressed me again. At that moment, I decided not to take anyone with me anymore. I am completely one with myself, there is something very contemplative about it.
MS: Was there a dangerous situation on your journey?
TJ: As a photographer, you’re always a hunter who takes risks. In Iceland, I wanted to go to a waterfall, where I fell several times over an icy surface and slid down a slope. A wasteland without a mobile phone net or the chance to be found. Then I bought a satellite-supported emergency call system. To die because of a broken ankle is quite unnecessary. BvH

Exhibition “Into the Light”

Tom Jacobi’s art exhibition in the Gallery SR Contemporary Art, Niebuhrstraße 11a in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Until May 20

Contact Tom Jacobi

tomjacobi.de

More art stories you can find here.

The post Tom Jacobi-Exhibition “Into the Light” appeared first on My Stylery.

Left on the wall: “Walterli” by Patrizia Waller. The big painting „Indian II“ (1982) by Rainer Fetting. Sofas: Ligne Roset

A miss is past: “Walterli” by Patrizia Waller (2011)

It was truly a brave move to come to Berlin in the beginning of the 90s, choosing the not refurbished “wild East” as a prospective center of life. Marcus Deschler had the courage and, since then, lives in one of the most popular streets of the capital. He conceived a big old building flat out of three flats, refurbished the filigree stucco, the beautiful oak-inlaid-parquet and heavy brass doorknobs. Its center is made off a perfect equipped stainless steel kitchen, because the head of house is a passionate amateur chef.

Gallery owner Marcus Deschler in his livingroom, in the background „Selfmad“ by Rainer Fetting

MyStylery: It was a good solution to place the kitchen in the so-called “Berlin Room”.
Marcus Deschler: I really racked my brain about the planning. I prefer cooking for many people. The kitchen as a communication platform is the core of my flat. As a child of art enthusiasts, I grew up in the Bauhaus style. Hence I love a mix out of history and modern.

Art in the kitchen: „Entenvogel – als Räuber – ertarnt sich seine begehrte Beute“ by Deborah Sengl (2003)

cooking station

MS: You partly surround yourself with quite provocative exhibits. Has there been a visitor who got scared off by the sight of the “Wolf im Schafspelz” from Deborah Sengl or Patricia Waller’s “Bambi mit Beil”?
MD: That may well be. My choice of art pieces is very wayward and the provocation inevitably leads to stronger dialogues. Art is no decoration, it’s a statement.

„Der Wolf – als Räuber – ertarnt sich seine begehrte Beute“, Deborah Sengl (2004)

No art, but an heirloom: The polar bear fur in the living room

An issue for the animal welfare? Of course not! Art by Patrizia Waller: „Who killed Bambi“ (2008)

MS: Is so-called good art dependent on the price? What do you recommend novices when buying a painting?
MD: There is no panacea. “Good” art is not necessarily expensive; it’s often a matter of timing. I therefore recommend investing timely.

Holger Bär, „Neuschwanstein reloaded“, acrylic on canvas (2012)

Flower arrangement on a chrome table (Ligne Roset)

MS: What is your favorite piece?
MD: Every single one is a favorite. Neither do I have an explicit favorite spot. Couch, bed or kitchen desk: I all like them equally.

View into the living room. On the wall an art piece by Hans van Meeuwen: „Äste“ (2002)

MS: What would you not want to spare in your flat?
MD: Flowers and my art pieces.

There is no danger of slipping here: „Bananenschale“, Patrizia Waller (1996)

MS: Do you judge other people’s flats from their art?
MD: That wouldn’t be fair. It’s always the living conditions, which define the flat situation, for example children or finance. Important is the individual note.  BvH

Huge art in the kitchen: the digital piece  „Streitmeier Bock Drilling“ by Wolfram Odin (2001)

Still life with sculpture by Rainer Fetting: „Sitzender Hund“ (2006)

Favorite place of Deschler’s guests is the kitchen-counter

Is it art or trash? “This tray is a gift from a friend.”

The blue ceramic doses are from Deschlers great-grandmother

Deschler got the white KPM vase on a flea market; The brass box is an heirloom of his father

The stainless steel kitchen is built to the design of Marcus Deschler

Nice detail: The refurbished historic brass door handles

Deschler discovered the art piece of foam material at Art Basel

„Cat“ by Patrizia Waller (2004) and a coffeetable book

Contact:

Galerie Deschler
Auguststraße 61
10117 Berlin

www.deschler-berlin.de

Opening hours during the Gallery Weekend:
Friday: 11 am-9 pm
Saturday & Sunday 11 am-7 pm

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