German photo book explores Georgia through country's photographers, authors
A photograph of some of the snaps used in the photo book about Georgia. Photo: Andreas Oetker-Kast.
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A selection of Georgian artists and authors share impressions on their own country from pages of a new photo book by German photographer Andreas Oetker-Kast, ahead of Georgia’s showcase representation at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.
Tamar, Where Are You? is a collaborative project launched by Oetker-Kast and exploring the Caucasian country via stories from seven Georgian photographers and essays by three authors.
“[The publication] is taking a deeper look, a look at what life is really like in Georgia, in the cities or on the countryside? How do Georgians perceive their lives, what are the developments, where are the challenges posed by the reality in Georgia?”
“On the one hand there's the foreign photographer's external perspective approaching the country with an open yet biased eye. On the other there's the internal view of Georgian artists with stories only they would tell“, the author of the project notes in summary.
With the work Oetker-Kast is delving into the question of possibility of exploring a foreign culture, as well as effects of “juxtaposition of positions” on understanding it.
The Georgian artists featured in the print are Dina Oganova, Giorgi Shengelia, Guram Tsibakhashvili, Natela Grigalashvili, Tinatin Kiguradze, Vakho Khetaguri and Yuri Mechitov.
Essays on Georgia were submitted for the book by authors Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, Dato Turashvili and Giorgi Tabliashvili.
With the production of the book having been supported by the Georgian National Book Centre, Tamar, Where Are You? will be presented in October at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where Georgia will go under the spotlight as the official Guest of Honour.
The illustrated work — printed in German and English — was self-published in Germany by bt:st publishing house, co-founded by Oetker-Kast in 2012.
The German photographer is based in the northern German city of Kiel and specialises in documentary and music photography.
His work has been printed and displayed at solo and group shows since 2006, with his projects including Wonderland, an exploration of the contemporary United States and Manpower, a look at workplaces and workers employed in them.