Thomas Friedrich Schäfer was born in 1983 in Mainz, Germany, and was raised in Sao Paulo, Brasil. He then returned to Germany to study, receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule in February of 2014. In his return to Germany, Thomas faced extremely different social situations and family backgrounds, and since then has tried to reconcile himself with his memories and his past.
The family home is often defined by the things we associate with it. These entities exist as both objects in their own right and reference points upon which we frame our memories. Recalling these places and things evokes the experience of nostalgia.
In creating this space the artist experiences an emotional novelty as the installation triggers memories of a previously experienced space.
These experiential spaces are historically accurate reconstructions of childhood memories- bringing to mind questions of the accuracy of memory. Hand built sets were constructed and documented with digital photography before being deconstructed, thereby making the place as ephemeral and intangible as one’s memory. The installation is only evident in the photograph itself.
The depicted space, reconstructed from memory and imagination, can lead to a new view when looking at the past.
Thomas Friedrich Schäfer took part in several Exhibitions after graduation: ‘Neon’ at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, and ‘Ein Blick’ at Galerie Neurotitan, both in Berlin in 2014. His work has also been shortlisted and cataloged at the ‘Recorded Memories’, Athen Photofestival, Greece, 2015, and digitally displayed in the Portrait Collection at the Musee du Louvre, Paris, France in July 2015. Also recently in the group exhibition, ‘Memories, Stories, Histories’ at The Center of Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA in November 2015.
To view more of Thomas Schäfer’s work, please visit his website.