The Administration of Fear


  • Photographer
    Michael Krebs
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    2012

Society is dominated by global issues such as nuclear threats, terrorism, global warming and existential fears. Through mass media events become synchronized emotions. Fear is used as a political instrument, which manifests itself in extreme security precautions and protection against possible events. How can we manage this constant fear that is anchored in the subconscious of our society? In my work I try to transform the unconscious fear that is immanent in our society by letting my photographic subjects think that they are exposed to a real threat.

Story

Society is dominated by global issues such as nuclear threats, terrorism, global warming and existential fears.

Through mass media events become synchronized emotions. Fear is used as a political instrument, which manifests itself in extreme security precautions and protection against possible events.

How can we manage this constant fear that is anchored in the subconscious of our society?
In my work I try to transform the unconscious fear that is immanent in our society by letting my photographic subjects think that they are exposed to a real threat.
At the moment, the actual occurrence of a fear scenario, the original fear is repealed or replaced with new fears.
The "hidden camera" and the fear situation created by myself shows the viewer a real intimate moment of anxiety.

With the extreme situation the protagonists have to experience, I, as a photographer, lose control over the image, which is usually - at least with staged pictures - seen as a medium of absolute force.
For a brief moment staging becomes reality.
In my work I don't use actors, but real people. This confronts the viewer with pictures that show real emotions of the photographed subjects without the looks of "hidden camera" or "reality" pictures.
What you see in this series is my family thinking that we are making a family portrait, but after a while the manipulated radio informs them of a catastrophe like a nuclear accident.

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