Michael Reisch

The lush and subtly disturbing landscape photographs of Michael Reisch cannot clearly be defined as depicting either reality or simulation. Using a large-format camera, the artist, who was once a student of Bernd Becher's, photographs long green landscapes, industrial complexes and other strangely energized buildings. Then he digitizes his images and manipulates them on the computer--removing all traces of specific place, time or human intervention--until he has created "invented" areas of the landscape that feel "more real" than the actual landscape, while the "real" landscape takes on a simulated tone that can almost call to mind The Lord of the Rings--in a very good way. This monograph is the first to offer a concentrated look at this young Dusseldorf-based artist.