Dieter Huber - Paper #2

Dieter Huber, age forty-seven, was born in Schladming, Austria. He is a contemporary photographer who has studied stage-design, costume design, and theater art painting throughout his life. Although he is quite an unknown artist, Huber has had publications of his work in art magazines and has been the curator of various exhibitions around the world. His work has been displayed in numerous art shows; some were one-man shows, while others were group shows that were shared with several different artists with the same type of artwork.

Drifting aside from theater art painting, Huber’s main art style is photography. He takes an ordinary photograph and manipulates it tremendously. The color of the subject in his picture doesn’t seem to be his main concern; he barely manipulates the colors with his photographs. Huber likes to change a realistic photograph into a fantastical picture. He uses a computer technique that combines photography with classical painting, which makes it seem like he took out a paintbrush and painted the picture himself. Not only does he manipulate it that way, but he changes something major in the photograph in order to make it a fantastic image. For example, in his series Klones, he manipulates with genetechnology, making the photograph unrealistic.

Dieter Huber’s photography appears to be realistic to the naked eye, but when the viewer looks closer, his work is actually very unrealistic. Even a fellow digital art curator, Christiane Paul, said, “The deceptively sober and scientific nature of Huber’s photographs enhances the perception of the images as a reality.” He photographs an object, and then appears to manipulate it, yet he manipulates it so slightly that it still appears to be somewhat realistic. For instance, in one of his solo shows from January until March of 2006 comes a piece called Klones, which shows two people kissing. At first, that is all the viewer sees. When looking more closely, the lovers’ tongues are actually connected. In another series of his, called Pleasure Files, he tries to focus on how subjective experience can lead to personal joy through emotions. This series definitely gives off a different vibe – that of relaxation. For example, Pleasure File #36 shows a cabin in the middle of a calm lake. By just looking at this particular photograph, it seems calming and almost makes the viewer want to go there to become rejuvenated. Another calming photo from the same series is Pleasure File #32, which is a dock elongated out into the middle of a foggy lake. Huber seems to have used more muted tones for this particular photograph, which seems to make the photo very peaceful.

Overall, I find that Huber’s work interests me, but confuses me as well. I chose my artists blindly not wanting to see what their work was for this very purpose; I wanted to be surprised, and I particularly was with Huber’s artwork. I love most of his photographs in the Pleasure Files series. Calming photography is my favorite, especially landscape photos. However, I don’t like many of his photos from his Klones series. I find them interesting since he incorporated so many different manipulations in them, but they do not appeal to me. All of his series seem to be different from one another, expanding his range of viewers. Even though he is a rather unknown artist, I do believe he is a successful artist. The fact that he can appeal to many different viewers makes him successful in my eyes. He has had and continues to have numerous solo exhibits and group shows around the world. The fact that viewers are still asking to see his work in exhibits certainly makes Huber a successful artist!

"Klones"

"Pleasure Files #36"

"Pleasure Files #32"