[ street x portrait ]

... is a series of black and white medium format film portraits of people on the streets of Vienna. By putting up a black backdrop that is carried from location to location, the randomly selected passer-byers feel empowered as if in a studio, shifting the seemingly exploitative nature of street photography towards a more mutual encounter, where photographer and model come together in a shared experience. The black backdrop serves as a way to standardize the portraits. Stripping the images of any clues as to where they were taken, the viewer is left merely with a face, providing a more unbiased view of who the model might be. The clean studio like set-up contrasts the impromptu character of the "unprepared" models in street clothing, thereby evoking aspects of both, a highly controlled studio environment as well as the spontaneous immersiveness of street photography.