In the summer of 2022, Iwan Baan completed an urban pilgrimage through the unique streets of Prague. For 7 days, the photographer photographed the city on foot, on a bike, and from a helicopter, capturing the essence of the urban fabric, from the center to the periphery and the landscape along the Vltava River. Presenting the city as a raw and often neglected entity, Iwan Baan showcased his exhibition “Iwan Baan: Prague Diary” this year at CAMP.
The exhibition is split up into four themes: the city, the center, the periphery, and the natural scenery. A large format projection of the exhibition hall is dedicated to aerial photographs, allowing the visitors to see Prague from unusual angles. On the opposite wall of the exhibition, the random arrangement of the photos taken in the city is accompanied by an audio commentary by the photographer. In fact, the display encourages wanderers to “get lost” through the scenography.
I always try to get to know each new city in a very intuitive way. I try to let go of different expectations and draw inspiration directly from the place itself and the encounters that happen here. It's good to visit landmarks and think about why that particular place is important to people, but at the same time, you also need to turn your gaze in the other direction and observe what's happening where people actually live. I would say that this kind of interaction is perhaps even more important in capturing the story of the city. -- Iwan Baan.
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Attempting to create a collection “miles away from the glossy pictures in tourist guides,” Baan uses his creative methods to reveal the truth. The recording of this unorthodox tour through a pictorial diary is the basis of the name of the display.
Prague is of course significantly defined by its landscape-especially by the shape of the flowing river on whose banks the city was gradually built. It is interesting that even though you cannot seethe river from many places, you constantly feel its presence in the city. It is in aerial photographs that this interrelationship between the city and the river comes out very well. For me as a photographer, these moments are very valuable because they give me what I am looking for the connection of details to the whole. – Iwan Baan.
Iwan Baan is a Dutch architectural photographer celebrated for narrating life within architecture through his images. Much of today’s most famous buildings are being archived through the artist’s lens. His latest exhibition at the VITRA Design Museum will commence in October 2023, showcasing various of his iconic works worldwide. Additionally, the artist recently photographed the new “Museum of Art and Photography” in Bengaluru, India by Mathew and Ghosh Architects. Last year, the Second Studio Podcast interviewed the photographer to discuss his career and how he became the most sought-after architectural photographer.
