Esther Haase

“Egal, was passiert, egal, wie verrückt mein Leben oder die Welt ist, sobald ich meine Kamera in die Hand nehme, bin ich ganz ich selbst. Ich bin in meinem Element. Das ist meine Identität.” Das ist die Antwort der Fotografin Esther Haase auf die Frage, was Identität für sie persönlich bedeutet. Und wenn wir ihrem Blick folgen, bietet sie uns eine weitere Nuance ihrer Interpretation. Auf den folgenden Seiten sind Esthers Eltern, Fritz Haase und Sibylle Haase-Knels, zu sehen, die ihr den Rücken zuwenden. Die Familie hat eine große Macht. Hier wachsen wir auf, machen unsere ersten Erfahrungen, erwerben grundlegende Fähigkeiten, lernen und erleben so vieles. Wir tragen unseren familiären Hintergrund mit uns, unabhängig davon, wo wir später als Erwachsene landen. In gewisser Weise wird sie Teil unserer Persönlichkeit und prägt alle unsere Beziehungen, ob bewusst oder unbewusst. Wir können aus dem Kreis der Familie heraustreten und unsere eigenen Vorstellungen und Ideen entwickeln, aber der Anfang unserer Entwicklung bleibt immer bei uns.

We asked Esther how she blends in with the story she photographed.

“It must be in our DNA ; -) For me, family and photography inevitably belong together because as a baby, my nappies were changed on the enlarger table. The bathroom smelled of developer and fixer. My parents are creatives and, at over 80 years old, they’re still working every day in their design studio in Hamburg. I grew up with photographer role models such as Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber, Annie Leibovitz and Sarah Moon. We had a fantastic library. Clothes and dressing up play a big role in our family. Whether it’s a bouquet of flowers or an advertising campaign, design is in everyone’s blood in our family. After training in classical dance, I also took lessons with my father, who’s a photography professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen.

My mother loves fashion, colour and design. She draws every day. Creating is like breathing for both of them. When I was 12, my fashion-obsessed mother took me to the prêt-à-porter shows by Mugler, Gaultier and Montana in Paris. This experience had a profound impression on me. My sister and I were always there at every preview and exhibition opening my parents had. Our apartment was above our parents’ studio, so we loved playing where they worked during the week. My mother still takes ballet classes today and is currently working on her third book. My father is an intellectual, a doer, an implementer, a creative director, professor and artist, a brilliant conceptualist and philanthropist, promoter and photographer. He is a wonderful speaker and has an answer to everything. My parents give me love, stand by me and are my biggest fans. I am in every way a child of my parents.”

CREDITS

Fotografie: Esther Haase
Talents: Sibylle & Fritz

Wie in SLEEK 74 - IDENTITÄT vorgestellt. Erhältlich in gedruckter und digitaler Form hier.

A German photographer, director and artist, Esther Haase was born in Bremen in 1966. Her father, a professor of photography and design, took her to photo shoots as a child. After a classical dance education and two years of stage experience, she studied graphic design with a focus on photography at the HdK Bremen. Since 1993 she has been travelling all over the world with her camera. International magazines and advertisers, films, exhibitions, books and awards document the success of her work. For SLEEK she photographed her parents and her daughter Marlene. She lives in Hamburg and London.