Jörn Vanhöfen
Aftermath
2004–2011
People in the twenty-first century increasingly seem to see the pursuit of happiness in the belief in the possibilities of constant growth and its absolutely limitless profits. To perceive life as boundless has become an addiction in our society today. We always replace the old with newer and more effective processes with the sole aim of maximizing material needs. As a participant and observer, I am fascinated and terrified by this development and its visible consequences, which are visible to me. The sites of such development, which thereby destroy themselves, are the targets of my photographic work. This has taken me from the Chicago Stock Exchange to the townships near Cape Town, from the forest fires of Apulia to the Detroit’s abandoned factories to the junkyard of my hometown. This is how my metaphorical pictures of the state of our world come about.