BOLDTYPE ISSUE #43: Artwork By
The cover image for this issue of Boldtype is a detail of a photograph, "Film Catering, Lausitz Racetrack," from Ralf Schmerberg's book Dirty Dishes, published by Hatje Cantz in 2005 and distributed in North America by D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. An established fashion and fine-art photographer, as well as a director of commercials, music videos, and films, Schmerberg visually recounts hundreds of meals eaten with friends and strangers. The highly detailed photographs follow food from its origins to its afterlife, and include all the gory, delicious, pretentious, and disgusting stages in between.
The vivid tableau in "Film Catering, Lausitz Racetrack" fits with the critical vein running throughout the collection. With nods to abundance and waste, Schmerberg alludes to the social-justice issues that prompted him to film peace movements and protests around the world. In 2003, he founded Dropping Knowledge, a site and organization encouraging political and human-rights dialogues.
Born in January 1965 in Stuttgart, Germany, Schmerberg settled in Berlin after spending extensive time in the US and India. Lauded works of his include films from his production company, Trigger Happy Productions, founded in 1996. Hommage à Noir, a tribute to Africa and its people, speaks with cinematic language instead of words; it received multiple awards — from UNESCO, the New York Film Festival, and others. Working and exhibiting worldwide, Schmerberg has several photographs in MoMA's collection and has proven to be a multimedia talent capable of being both inside and outside of popular culture.
- Lauren McKee
