Marcus Schaefer (1987, Germany) is a Paris-based multi-disciplinary artist. His driving force is pressuring impulse to capture his current state of mind. In a world predominantly ruled by color images, Schaefer seeks avenues of escape and expression through the visual aesthetics of black and white photography. Exploring intimacy, sensitivity, and abstraction, his images challenge the false preconception that black and white photography is outdated and less expressive.

The photographer puts the color black at the heart of his work, using it as a central component of his visual messaging. Black, as the absence of color and absorption of light, the signifier of evil, death, and fear, is newly interpreted in creative ways. Schaefer overturns the binary of black and white to create a sophisticated system of new meanings throughout the images – black acquires vulnerability and softness, becoming the site of a new entanglement of representation. The series of mostly black and white compositions feel vulnerable, and otherworldly and create a vision of seductive allure. Schaefer is not interested in technical perfection; he is intrigued instead by spontaneity and imprecision. The element of mistake is fundamental in all his creative endeavors.

“Beyond photography, Schaefer is also a drawer and sculptor and uses his holistic understanding of art to inform his photographic choices and evocative storytelling. Charcoal drawing is an experimental practice and vessel for his imagination.”