Pure Shores: Thomas Lohr’s GEZEITEN

Readers of 032c may associate the work of Thomas Lohr with futuristic fashion editorials exploring the interaction between technology, sensuality, and the human form. Between the high profile shoots, however, the London-based Lohr has been making weekly trips to the shores of Devon, ritualistically documenting an ocean rock at Aymer Cove. A year’s worth of pilgrimages – Lohr estimates that he spent 200 hours shooting the natural landmark – have resulted in a new photo book, Gezeiten, launching today in Paris at Galerie Antonine Catzeflis. Designed by BUERO, the publication pairs Lohr’s geological portraiture with words by another 032c contributor, Adriano Sack, whose introduction suggests the rock connects to the cultural symbolism of the great white shark, the sinking Titanic, Caspar David Friedrich’s Wrack im Eismeer, and Stanley Kubrick’s black monolith from 2001, among other references. “My first idea started with animism, the belief that everything has a soul,” explains Lohr. “I tried to capture the rock by taking its portrait – I wanted to find out if it was possible to build a connection with it, and if that would be obvious for people when looking at the series.” The images reinforce Lohr’s observation that the rock functions as a means of measuring time: “I realized that it looks and functions like a sundial. A constant in time, it sits right where the tide comes in, so every day it’s twice dry and twice nearly covered with water, depending on the tide height.” Hence the project’s name, which means “tide” in German, but also includes the word “Zeit” – German for time.

Below, an excerpt from Sack’s interview with Lohr for the project.