Nina Röder
Invited photographers of Goa Photo 2015.
(Originally published on Goa Photo 2015)
Nina Röder is a German photographer, and currently a PhD student with the research focus on performative strategies in contemporary photography. The focus of her photographs lies within exposing hidden structures of biographical stories.
In this interview she told us how was her first contact with a camera, the experience of photographing her mother and grandmother for the work “Mutters Schuhe” she will present on Goa Photo 2015, and the plans for the new series she is photographing.
Nina Röder, “Mutters Schuhe”, 2008
How did you start in photography? How was your first contact with a camera?
My uncle worked for a company where his job was to photograph broken cars to calculate the costs of the damage. When in 2002 his company invested in digital cameras he gave me his old analogue Minolta mirror up camera and so it all began.
Can you tell us a little bit of your career in photography
In 2009 I graduated from Bauhaus University in Weimar / Germany with the focus on conceptual photography with a performative approach. Since then I have been working as an artist and as a lecturer for fine art photography. Recently I started a practice based PhD-program at Bauhaus-University, which is awesome because I can read, think and write about photography and practice it all the time!
Nina Röder, “Mutters Schuhe”, 2008
What kind of photography you do? Can you define it?
The focus of my photographs lies within exposing hidden structures of biographical stories. In my work I am combining aspects of the theatre and stage with the time based image space of photography. I’m interested in any kind of spaces and how the movement or the gesture of a body can define those. I work with an analogue medium format camera because I need the aspect of deceleration.
About the work “Mutters Schuhe” how did you get this idea, and how was the photographic process?
In the work, Mutters Schuhe I staged memories of my mother’s youth in her old house. The interest in this subject is based on the fact that I wanted to get to know my mother better and maybe to learn indirectly more about myself. I wanted to see her not only as my mother, but also as a woman who had a life before me. A life full of hopes, first loves, dreams and ideas. The biggest surprise for me was, that both (my mother and my grandmother) agreed immediately to work with me on this project. My family is from a little town in Bavaria/Germany so they never had any relation to the art world. To me it is fantastic because they both can criticize my work very honestly without any prejudices.
Nina Röder, “Mutters Schuhe”, 2008
So far where have you presented this work? And how was the audience feedback? (if Goa’s will be the first presentation, what do you expect from the audience?)
I showed, “Mutters Schuhe” in different l exhibitions or festivals in Germany, France or the United States. Some people start laughing when they see the work — I quite like this reaction. Once there was a man who said that my grandmother still has the most beautiful legs of the three of us — and she is almost 90 years old.
The theme of Goa Photo’s first edition is “ The Other”, so can you tell us how is “the other” present in this work?
Although we are one family and we have this genetic and emotional close connection to each other — there are still a lot of aspects in my family, which can surprise or shock me. Who are these people, who are responsible for who I am?
Nina Röder, “Najade”, 2012 — ongoing
As an artist, beyond the role of promoting photographers works, what do you think is the importance of a festival, and what can it do for photography ?
Its about connecting people with different cultural backgrounds. Not only artists but maybe also random people, who are interested in seeing and talking about different photographic ideas or perspectives of our lives, our world and our society.
Have you ever been in India? Are you planning to do some photography work there?
It’s my first time in India and I’m quite excited about it. I’m planning to do some work for my new series “Najade” where its about the woman and the uncanny.
Nina Röder, “Najade”, 2012 — ongoing
