Schrebergarten/Kleingarten: Self-Expression within Community and Isolation

Gardens are an important addition to life, more than people know. The concept of the Schreber/Kliengarten in Germany is one that is unique, insightful and an integral part of society. So much that, the meaning locally is one that is expected or “a given” while the evolution of their original purpose and meaning in urban settings has been long lost and forgotten.

From the Schreber inception in the mid 19th century until today, these roughly 220m2 plots of land, or gardens have changed in reference and meaning starting from the necessities of food and self-sustainablitily during the time of the 1st and 2nd Industrial Revolutions, through the two World Wars, onto Communism and now the European Union and modern living.

Throughout these changes, people have sought refuge in their gardens. Today, in Germany where the structure of life and “rational” living is so strict and exact, the gardens alllow a private space where one can be themselves, express themselves and decorate their gardens in anyway that they choose. In other words, the gardens are windows into themselves.

This project I intend to photograph the gardens alone, to depict a profile of the person who tends to them and then to get a photo of the person in their garden. This will take time to fully develop a full roster of people which I have already begun. Interviews are about 1.5-2 hours with conceptual respresentations of them in their gardens (some images are included in my submission).

With the patience and wonderful help of the Schrebergarten Museum in Leipzig, I have already completed 6 of these interviews and had a solo exhibition at the museum however due to COVID we had to postpone the event until 2021.

Since the beginning of my study, I have visted over 100 gardens and have photographed and seen close to 2000. There are plots within the city and in the outskirts that represent different meaning for those who occupy them.

What I would like to do is continue on this study and project in spring 2021 with a modified approach to COVID and people's approach on coping and preserverance during such a time of difficulty and isolation and finding solace within the confines of their gardens. I should like to continue as well the study of how the gardens represent the individuals that care for them and, essentially, visa versa.