The Photographer And The Piano CHRISTIAN LANGE
By analysing documents and archival photographs belonging to the F.E.R.V.E.T. factory and now kept at the Municipal Library of Castelfranco Veneto, Christian Lange builds a visual narrative developed also in the form of dialogue. The starting point of the story is the search for a mysterious photographer employed in the railway car repair company. Through his images, which exceed the documentary dimension, the memory of a place that has been a symbol and an economic reference for the city of Castelfranco is renewed.
“CL – Hello, nice to meet you.
Ph – Hello.
CL -You are the Photographer at F.E.R.V.E.T.?
Ph – Yes, I was. It was my job. We had strict manuals about how to take photographs. Some general instructions how to use the flash and aperture. At that time I often worked with a Canon AF 35J – bella macchina – very compact and very easy to use. (smiles gently) Anyway, later we got a model from Pentax which I didn’t like so much. That was in the very final period. Before everything went down.
Cl – That sounds a bit dull – always working with instructions?
Ph – No, no – it wasn’t. I had a responsible position. For our company my photographs became a valuable archive and for legal issues they were always the ultimate evidence of work. I took my work very seriously. Sometimes I had to climb the roof, crawl on the floor or even wriggle under the train to get the best results.
CL – What was your favourite part of your work?
Ph – It’s hard to say… generally I really loved the test rides and capturing the restored wagons entirely – just before they left us to start a new life. We had very good railway connections to tons of destinations in Europe. Riding to Amsterdam, Paris or Berlin without a ticket! (laughs) I dreamed a lot and I was very young when I started working. I knew nothing of the world.
CL – In the archive there is such an endless cosmos of, let me think, high quality still life compositions with the sublime presence/absence of human work.
Ph – Yes, it looks like art – but frankly it was just work. (flipping through the archival material)
CL – Oh… there was also a piano inside?
Ph – AAh, that was a nice shoot! (looks very amused) For our adverts in the 1990s we used the most prestigious projects, for example the Trans-Europe Express with dining cars with a huge bar and even a piano. We all drank a lot that day.
CL – And at the end you played the piano? Is that you?
Ph – (laughs aloud) Yes, that’s me. I was the only one who could play.”.
(F.E.R.V.E.T. Archive, Castelfranco Veneto Public Library, June 3, 2016)
Project realized as part of the artist residency “OMNE/WORK”, Castelfranco Veneto 31st May – 11th June 2016, exhibited during OMNEFEST (Museo Casa Giorgione, 13th October – 9th December 2018) and published in the book “OMNE/WORK 2016- 2018”, Lettera Ventidue, Siracusa 2018
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