Having looked at just one of Tobias Zielony’s photographs of young people, you’ll immediately recognise it’s the work of someone who understands. The German photographer captures the significance and self-perception of his subjects in moments that they seem to choose for themselves, giving the viewer a sense of closeness and proximity. There’s nothing manipulated or moralising in Zielony’s work; he just knows how to capture political connections and issues in a way that makes them recognisable, especially from the faces and places he depicts. And that’s what makes it so powerful and timeless. Tobias Zielony doesn’t let us get away that easily.
From the series "The Fall", 2021, courtesy of KOW, Berlin © Tobias Zielony
SLEEK: When did you decide to make youth and youthfulness your subject?
Tobias Zielony: Well, it wasn’t so much a conscious decision as something that emerged from a situation I was in relation to a particular moment. I started studying relatively late in life, in my mid-twenties, first in Berlin and then at the University of Wales in Newport. I studied documentary photography, and one of our tasks was either to photograph people as they go about their work or their daily life, or to photograph a disused coal mine. I photographed people on an estate where almost everybody was out of work. The only people hanging around on the streets there were a group of youngsters. And those were the people I hung out with. At some point, I hit on the idea of photographing the story of the entire estate through these young people and depicting them through photography.
Make Up, 2017, From the series Maskirovka, Inkjet-Print, 70 x 105 cm. Courtesy of KOW, Berlin © Tobias Zielony
Depictions of youth are strong depictions of the truth as well, right?
I have a problem with the word ‘truth’ because I don’t believe in a single form of truth. So I don’t like to use the word too much here. But if I look at the topic of youth, it’s a time of life and a position within society when and where you can challenge everything. Youth is a time of change, rebellion, departure, boundary experiences. But many of the places I went to with these youngsters were also places where precisely those expectations were disappointed.
The field of tension between youth and resignation comes out so powerfully in your pictures. I know that, as you just said, you really immerse yourself in these young people’s lives, as well as in the places they live. How important has that approach been in developing your aesthetic?
Time is an important factor in my projects. The only way I could gain a deeper, more direct experience of all phenomena – like boredom, indolence, uneventfulness, aimlessness and taking every day as it comes – was by staying in a place for longer. People often forget how important the factor of time is for understanding a work of this kind. But they also say I get to know people much better by spending so much time with them. It takes continuity – and that’s something journalists tend not to have.
Ball 13, 2008, From the series Trona C-Print, 84 x 56 cm, Courtesy of KOW, Berlin © Tobias Zielony
And what about distance?
In my experience, distance was always there, just like intimacy and closeness. Both are important to me, and I went about getting to know these people with that kind of open mind. So we all knew what we were letting ourselves in for. I didn’t pretend I wanted to be a part of the group; my role as an artist or photographer was clear throughout. I don’t insist on our arrangement – instead, I make it clear, and the relationship then develops from there. Distance allows me to develop an intimate view that then encompasses more than just my own perception.
Full interview available in SLEEK #70 – Truth.