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Fotokünstler aus Hannover Guido Klumpe.jpg

The story of the visually impaired photo artist Guido Klumpe

"With my photographic work I go to and beyond the limits of my vision."

Guido Klumpe was 16 years old when he developed his passion for photography. His first interest was concert photography. Just a little later, he traveled through Southeast Asia and discovered the magic of street photography there. Back in Germany, it was perfectly clear: Guido Klumpe wanted to become a photo artist. But he had underestimated the German bureaucracy in his plans. At the career counseling center, he was told that there was no way he could study photography.

 

Since birth, Guido Klumpe has been blind on the left side. On the right side, he has 25 percent vision. His perception is two-dimensional and captures little detail. "For me, the world is like an Internet video with a low data rate. If I see a face, I recognize some details. Faces in a crowd are just planes." And that was exactly the exclusion criterion for studying photography. As a visually impaired person, he was not suitable for the study, he was told. He could become a masseur or a telephone operator.

 

Inevitably Klumpe went professionally for the time being other ways social education to mention? Until one day he saw a documentary about famous New York street photographers that reminded him of his old passion. It became clear to him that his "seeing things differently" brought with it a special quality. He understood that he could work as a photo artist as a matter of course, that he just had to do it. And he realized that anyone can do anything. Just in his very own way.

 

Guido Klumpe bought himself a camera, roamed the streets, and over the past few years made photo series that are now internationally acclaimed. His minimalist architecture and street photographs are shown in numerous countries and win many awards. Guido Klumpe says: "In the meantime I know that artistic photography is not about how much you see. Rather, it's about how you see and how you implement what you see. Through photography I go to and beyond the limits of my eyesight." 

Anker GK
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