In Sphären

2026
Photography
Framed pigment print on Hahnemühle Ultra Smooth
40 x 50 cm

In her photographic series In Sphären (engl. in sphere), Mona Schulzek takes up the seconds immediately before landing —the fading moment of weightlessness in the transition to touchdown. […] She combines her own photographs with found imagery, including pictures of space debris that is deliberately brought down over Point Nemo, the most remote point from land in the Pacific Ocean. Through digital manipulation, she stages these motifs as high-contrast light images. Referencing the bioluminescence of certain living organisms, particularly jellyfish, illuminated parachutes appear to dance over a black, shimmering ground. The violent transfer of force upon impact and its effect on the shape of the parachutes are translated into concentrated and tranquil images. They evoke both the stillness of constellations and photographs from the deep sea.

Text: Eva Oberhofer