From Idea to Image and On to Presentation – a two-day workshop with Ludwig Rauch

Strong photographic work emerges when content and visual language form a compelling unity. This two-day workshop supports you in developing and strengthening precisely this unity.

The following questions are central to our shared image discussions:

• What is a photographic theme?
• How do I translate it into photographic form?
• Why am I making these images and for whom or for what purpose?

Based on your own existing images, we will work on structuring them more clearly, sharpening their conceptual focus, communicating them more precisely, and developing possible forms of presentation.

The goal is not only to intuitively sense your own artistic intention, but to consciously articulate it and express it convincingly through images.

Working Basis

We will work with your own photographs and materials.

Participants should bring either:
• a photographic project already in progress that they would like to continue developing conceptually, or
• existing image material if their theme is still in the development phase.

All work should be brought as manageable, simple prints to allow for focused, shared image viewing.

Structure and Working Method

The workshop begins with a round of introductions. This is followed by intensive image discussions in which individual projects are reflected upon step by step and sharpened conceptually until each participant has developed a clearer thematic direction.

Group exchange is a central element:
Learning from the images of others, engaging with shared questions, and becoming familiar with different photographic approaches open up new perspectives and support individual growth. Collective discussions and reflections form the core of the workshop.

At the same time, we acknowledge that experiences, processes, and photographic insights cannot always be fully put into words and that this openness is an essential part of artistic practice.

The workshop is led by Ludwig Rauch. He will introduce himself, his working methods, and his photographic background, and will provide insight into his artistic practice. Using examples from his own work, he will present different photographic approaches and speak about how he understands photography as an artistic process.

Ludwig Rauch was born in Leipzig, GDR, in 1960. From 1981 to 1985 he studied photo journalism at the Karl-Marx University, and in 1985 began to publish his work in East German magazines. A year later, Rauch got into conflict with the GDR authorities which prohibited any further publication of his photographs in the country. Despite this prohibition, he continued his photography studies from 1986 until 1989 with the legendary Arno Fisher at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig. In 1989 Ludwig Rauch left the GDR for good and moved to West-Berlin where he worked as an independent photographer and artist. He founded the magazine New Visual Art together with Matthias Flügge and Michael Freitag in 1991 and established the artist duo Kubiak & Rauch in 1992.

Artworks by Ludwig Rauch are in the collections of the Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig, the Federal State Museum for Modern Art Cottbus, the Berlin State Gallery, the Lyonel-Feininger-Gallery, as well as in many private collections.

Ludwig Rauch was born in Leipzig, GDR, in 1960. From 1981 to 1985 he studied photo journalism at the Karl-Marx University, and in 1985 began to publish his work in East German magazines. A year later, Rauch got into conflict with the GDR authorities which prohibited any further publication of his photographs in the country. Despite this prohibition, he continued his photography studies from 1986 until 1989 with the legendary Arno Fisher at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig. In 1989 Ludwig Rauch left the GDR for good and moved to West-Berlin where he worked as an independent photographer and artist. He founded the magazine New Visual Art together with Matthias Flügge and Michael Freitag in 1991 and established the artist duo Kubiak & Rauch in 1992.

Artworks by Ludwig Rauch are in the collections of the Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig, the Federal State Museum for Modern Art Cottbus, the Berlin State Gallery, the Lyonel-Feininger-Gallery, as well as in many private collections.

https://ludwig-rauch.com/