Tango Metropolis: Rolf Sachsse about the Contact Sheets of Thomas Kellner

For over two decades, German photographer Thomas Kellner (b.1966) has explored the pictorial possibilities of the contact sheet, drawing particular inspiration from cityscapes, architecture and landscapes. In his new series called Tango Metropolis, he focuses his camera on the world’s most famous monuments. These iconic buildings are well-known, but his deconstructed, fractured images invite the viewer to discover them anew. Rolf Sachsse, a photographer, author, and curator, has contributed an essay for this book that links Kellner’s work to both mannerism and cubism.

Thomas Kellner is a German photographer known for his large-format photo mosaics of architectural monuments created using contact sheets and varying perspectives. He studied art, sociology, politics and economics at the University of Siegen. In 1996 he received the Kodak Young Talent Award, which encouraged him to live as an artist. He lives and works in Seigen.

Rolf Sachsse is a trained photographer who studied art history, communication studies, and German literature at the universities of Munich and Bonn. After finishing his PhD. on the relation between architecture and photography in the 20th century, he worked as a curator, writer, and photographer. He was Professor of Design History and Design Theory at the University of Fine Arts Saar, Sarrebruck, where he also was Pro-Rector of Academic Affairs until 2017. Since 2018 he has been a lecturer at the University of Bonn.