Herbert Tobias,..eat me, drink me...,Hamburg, 1979
PHOTOKUNST Fasanenstr. 69 10719 Berlin Allemagne
Photography determined Herbert Tobias' life for twenty years. At times, as he himself stated, it even drove him to the very edge of insanity. Photography gave Tobias an outlet for his innermost emotions and desires. The camera was also a tool through which he communicated with the rest of the world. In his images of longing, passion, isolation, luck, pain and joy he detailed the architecture of his inner values - a structure that stood opposed to the rise of 1950s consumerism and all its accompanying rites and rituals. In this context, photography kept him sane.
Tobias thrived on the production of intense emotion - and not only in his photography. His expression was vehement, and he did not cower from pathos. His photographic style perfectly mirrors his soul, a soul in which there was not room for a peaceful life void of risk.
Ulrich Domröse