Wolves had become almost extinct in Germany in the past 200 years. Now again these animals roam the forests, meadows and villages, and come up to the edge of the cities. They rarely show up though, and none have been aggressive towards humans since their return. People fear the wolf nevertheless. Why? The animals serve as identification and demarcation: here are those who cheer their return, here are the others, who perceive them as a threat. Parents who are unwilling to let their children play alone in the forest. Owners who don’t want to see their animals be killed or maimed by a wolf. My pictures show places where wolves have been detected. A wolf lives here. A wolf ate here. A wolf died here. A wolf was shot here. In these places man and wolf have to live together again. Whose territory is it? Who can live here undisturbed and run around, who should stay away – and who decides this? In my photographs you don't see any traces of wolves. The pictures touch on themes of social change such as globalization, rural exodus or a turn around in energy: changes that frighten people but are perhaps more difficult to grasp than the wolf itself. Beside my pictures I show newspaper and magazine pages, in which articles about the wolf appeared. I have deleted all words except the headline of the article and words in which the wolf appears. I would like to point out the discrepancy between media presentation and the actual visibility of the topic.
Hannes Jung, Berlin. 2021
Hannes Jung (b. 1986) is a documentary photographer based in Berlin. He studied photography in Munich, Hannover and Valencia. His work was awarded among others with the Otto -Steinert Prize, Lotto art prize Brandenburg, n-ost reportage Prize, Rückblende – Prize for political photography, Prix Mark Grosset, College photographer of the year award. Hannes‘ work was shown in several exhibitions and festivals around Europe like the Athens Photo Festival, Brandenburgische Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, C/O Berlin, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Fototage Wiesbaden, Kaunas Photo, Kolga Tbilisi Photo, Vilnius Photo Circle.
Astoria Business&Leisure, 4 Sienkiewicza Street – exhibitions open to the public until 30.10.2021, Mon-Sun, 11:30-18:00