The prodigal son, 2005
Staged landscapes based on the work of Peter Paul Rubens
The "Prodigal Son" is about the extent to which an image represents reality. The view of the landscape is seemingly a natural view, but it is not real, but a constructed composition, artificial productions of the photographer.
The work cuts out the theory that the photographic medium can reproduce reality. Baruth deliberately shifts the boundaries of the photographic image and approaches the visual language of painting. The newly created fictional landscape, consisting of a montage of single pieces of heterogeneous components, joins in the tradition of Flemish-Brabant landscape painting. This creative, artistic type of photography takes on narrative features and leads the viewer on a journey into a parallel world of art. The picturesque production of the landscape is in contrast to today's understanding of nature and contemporary landscape perception.
In the processing of different image details to a new rural pattern, the real landscape seems to get lost, in favour of a spiritual reality. The latter conveys peace and convinces with its quiet, profound atmosphere.
Exhibition views
© CDI 2010