6
ness impairs me in my task and makes my photographs appear less vital.
NL – Is the journey as such always a quest, or is it clear from the outset
which motifs and series you wish to pursue? Is your approach to your
work more dynamic or conceptual?
WL –When travelling, I divide my photographic production into two
categories: Of primary interest are the photographs which fit into the
concept of our journey. For example, on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland this
aim was to photograph the megaliths of Callanish. We usually decide on
the concept of our journeys about six months before we leave. Apart from
this, I find a number of interesting objects which don’t fit in with any of
my current themes and which I nevertheless find fascinating. Then I pho-
tograph them anyway, simply out of pure joy in the form. They end up in
my archives, where they await discovery. My approach to my work is thus
both dynamic and conceptual.
NL – You began with your photographic work at a time when this art
form did not enjoy anywhere near the recognition it has received in the
last ten to twenty years.Why did you, despite this, choose photography
as your personal artistic medium?
WL
–When I was 16 years old I first had the wish to express myself artisti-
cally; but I lacked the opportunity to do so. I learned freehand drawing
frommy father, who was enthusiastic about drawing animals. I was less
talented in this discipline, but on the other hand I was good at construc-
tive drawing. At that time, however, this wouldn’t have allowed me to be
active artistically or indeed to earn my living from art. Not until much
later did I learn of the existence of Max Bill, Karl Pfahler, Jean Dewasne,
Victor Vasarely or other constructivists. At some point my father gave me
a camera and I began to take pictures. I took my first ‘artistic’ photograph
in 1956.
Both back then and now I have never had the feeling of creating ‘art’
whilst photographing. For me it is like breathing; I hardly notice when
I’m doing it. I really can’t say definitively whether photography is ‘my own
artistic medium’.
I’ve also worked as a graphic artist for many years (14,15). Categorising
my work as ‘art’ or ‘non-art’ is alien to me. I make a reproducible photo-
graph with a technical apparatus – my camera – and reproduce this pho-
9 -Win Labuda,
Departure into Time
