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INTERVIEW WITH JOCHEN RAIß ABOUT POLAR BEARS
"Mostly the polar bear appears on the beach" ⸺ In his practice the Hamburg collector Jochen Raiß gathers historical amateur pictures and repeatedly comes across a strange motif: people who pose with fake polar bears. An interview led by Wiebke Bolle.
Why did the people take pictures with polar bears at the time?
It's not really clear. It was probably the idea of photographers, in the early 1920s. The polar bears frequently appeared on German seaside resorts, especially the Baltic Sea. At that time, amateur photography was not so common, only a few people had their own camera. I suspect that you wanted to have a memory of your vacation time or send it to friends. Many pictures have the size of postcards. And the photographers probably made good money out of putting their assistants in such costumes and then selling the pictures to tourists. The job was certainly not popular. Who wants to walk around in a polar bear costume at 30 degrees?
(...)
What fascinates you about the polar bear motif?
It makes you smile. Often the pictures with the polar bears look like a family portrait, which makes them even more bizarre. I have always looked for the what is out of the ordinary. Everything that has to do with people and is unusual, awakens my passion for collecting. I have always made up stories about the pictures. I don't know the people in the photos, I don't know anything about their life - so there are no limits to my imagination. When I discover new motifs, my head immediately starts spinning. Each time this turns into a little adventure.
An interview by Wiebke Bolle. You can read the full interview in SZ Magazin.
Published on October 7th, 2019
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21.05.2023