HIRAETH

This conceptual body of work deals with the feeling of missing and longing for something that no longer exists or never did. One could say it is an advanced version of homesickness and it is called "hiraeth".

*translated from german into english*

HIRAETH (welsh, here-eyeth)

Hiraeth, what does it mean?

“Longing for a home which maybe never was yours to begin with. A nostalgia for a place to which we cannot return. It is now, or always has been beyond this current plane of existence. It is the echo of all lost memories and places of our soul’s past and our current grief for them. It’s aching and it’s beauty. It is in the wind, the rocks and the rain. It is nowhere and everywhere. It is a feeling that consumes you fully and won’t ever let you go.” ...

About the project

... This is the feeling I want to convey with this project. The feeling of returning home but not really arriving. The lonely astronaut stands for every single human being that feels lost in this big world. He returned home to planet earth just to discover that nobody is here anymore and begins to explore this seemingly deserted world. He is left with empty buildings, nature and it’s wildlife. Seemingly without a plan and marked by melancholy, he wanders around and tries to turn his "old" home into a new one. The identity of the astronaut is unknown, as is his gender or age. Any one of us could be under this helmet. The photoseries should inspire those who got lost along the way to discover themselves and everything around them once again - as if it is a new world.

The total project contains over 30 pictures, however for this entry I only included 15.