Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1283588
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 AUGUST 2020 4 THIS WEEK PHOTOGRAPHY Carsten Sander and his team sourcing portraits for the German photographer Carsten Sander speaks to TEODOR RELJIC ahead of a visit to Malta during the first week of September, where he will be taking portraits of locals as part of the Faces of Europe project, an 80- day, EU-wide photographic road trip through which Sander will attempt to capture the eclectic variety of the Union's citizenry from his mobile studio An odyssey of European First off, could you tell us a little bit about your personal trajectory as a photographer? What were some of the most important milestones of your career, and what are some of the most important lessons you've learned along the way? I can't say that there were certain mo- ments that made me realise that I would become a photographer. It is and was much more about the mix of meeting special personalities, design, architec- ture and travel. It's less of a lesson than an ongoing experience in self-reflec- tion, which flows back positively into the work process. How would you say the Faces of Europe project reflects your history as a photographer, and your aesthetic approach? Why was it natural for you to take on a project of this kind? The idea for this project is actually a logical continuation of my previous work 'Heimat', which I had done in Ger- many. That project was more about the inner conflict of the German self-image, whereas this one is about representing the wide emotional spectrum, and the inherent strength, of the citizens of Eu- rope. How has the project changed in the wake of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic? We drove 5,000km detours, did some COVID tests, canceled flights from spe- cial guests who wanted to accompany us on our trip in stages, and stood at border controls for a long time at night. Since then, I have to say that my team and I have come to love and appreciate open borders. We found the closed va- riety to be particularly strange. You will be visiting Malta in the coming days. What are your hopes and aspi- rations for Malta's own contribution to this wide-ranging EU project? We hope for support with the vari- ous selection of interesting people who stand for Malta. Then there are the "The possibility of a universal basic income should certainly be considered in light of the pandemic. Otherwise, art and culture are doomed to die out slowly" German photographer Carsten Sander