By replacing the intimacy and insight which one conventionally expects from portraiture with something far more objective and rational, von Zwehl's project recalls the 19th century's faith in the potential of both science and photography to unravel the mysteries of life. Her sitters appear anonymous, stripped of all personal details but united by identical posing and subject to the same controlled experiment. The nature of these experiments be they the effects of gravity on the body whilst holding one's breath, being awoken in the middle of deep sleep, or subject to rigorous exercise, is largely inconsequential, being merely a means to von Zwehl's real interest, an exploration of the relationship and expectations inherent in the act of portraiture. Equally important as an influence on von Zwehl's work has been Western European painting. The impassivity of all her sitters as well as the use of various pictorial conventions suggests the importance of Renaissance painting. In her new series Profiles 2001, the reference to a specific Renaissance source (Piera della Francesca's 1470 diptych of the Duke and Duchess of Montefeltro) is clearly acknowledged. Here however the couples don't really know each other and are linked only by their stare, which is fixed and reciprocated but from which the viewer is totally excluded.
Born Munich, 1971. Studied photography at London College of Printing and Royal College of Art in London.
Lives and works in London.
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