Zwischen den Häusern
From 2021–2024, I regularly visited Carmen and Peter, who belong to a shrinking community of horse trainers based in the historic stables surrounding the Viennese racing track Krieau. The protagonists, their horses and their cats (Kathie and Mercy) are all living in an in-between world. Hidden between tall buildings of the new quarter rising around them. Between the golden age of harness racing in the previous century and a time that barely remembers races with thousands of visitors. At the time of the photo project, some of the stables had just been torn down for a new residential tower. The remaining ones, still populated by horses, are set for repurposing as commercial spaces.
Design and layout of the book align with the diminishing role of the traditional inhabitants in shaping the future of their neighborhood: quotes from the protagonists are squeezed into the book gutter; vivid color scenes of races still taking place once a month are hidden on the inside of the cover flaps or between bodies of black and white photographs; the title mimics a stable sandwiched between tall modern buildings, referencing the last picture in the book.
From 2021–2024, I regularly visited Carmen and Peter, who belong to a shrinking community of horse trainers based in the historic stables surrounding the Viennese racing track Krieau. The protagonists, their horses and their cats (Kathie and Mercy) are all living in an in-between world. Hidden between tall buildings of the new quarter rising around them. Between the golden age of harness racing in the previous century and a time that barely remembers races with thousands of visitors. At the time of the photo project, some of the stables had just been torn down for a new residential tower. The remaining ones, still populated by horses, are set for repurposing as commercial spaces.
Design and layout of the book align with the diminishing role of the traditional inhabitants in shaping the future of their neighborhood: quotes from the protagonists are squeezed into the book gutter; vivid color scenes of races still taking place once a month are hidden on the inside of the cover flaps or between bodies of black and white photographs; the title mimics a stable sandwiched between tall modern buildings, referencing the last picture in the book.
