state of state

Any real democracy can be recognized today by its clear separation of powers into the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government. A separate government institution is responsible for each of these powers, which should work independently from each other and keep each other in check. This model of governance can be recognized in states all over the world, but is increasingly becoming the subject of intense questioning. The idea of “state” is also a significant one and one that is often abused, misinterpreted and distorted. But a state is not just an unfeeling institution, and is by no means just a machine with binary codes, which can only recognize 0 and 1. A state is given life by its people, and any activity — or lack there of — always arises from them. The project “state of state” uses photographic techniques to examine the idea of “state” by focusing on state employees in each of the three powers of government in various countries. One of the aims of the project is to assign an image to the idea of “State”, to give it a face. With this in mind, I photograph state employees of the three powers of government worldwide, in the politics, justice and police sectors. The aim of the project is to produce a series of photographs that give a face to the idea of “State”through portraits of state employees, accompanied by photographic documentations of they're working day. The question of what a state really is and what is hidden behind the stereotypical idea of “the State” has never been more exciting. On a global level, it is important not to define a state as “Merkel," „Trump“ or even “the Russians”. Now seems like the perfect time for a photographic examination of the idea of “state” across various different countries.