C Print Portrait Photography

The town of Baragoi is half a day’s drive from Lake Turkana. It is a green oasis amidst a parched landscape. The majority of the town’s inhabitants, including this striking woman, ar...

Every Friday the highest mountain pass in northern Kenya comes alive as its normally wind-battered and deserted shacks become the focus of a market. It is the only place in West Samburu where Pokot and Samburu tribal groups are able to meet in a tense and uneasy truce. From a cliff top, looking out over northern Kenya’s rugged scenery, a nervous Samburu trader pointed at small moving objects...

I met this young married Samburu in the middle of a busy market in western Kenya. She was with a group of young women browsing the wooden stalls dotted across the dusty red earth in the lowlands of the Matthew’s Range. In Samburu communities young men spend years as warriors – a wandering lifestyle which make it impossible for them to marry. Instead they take girlfriends and give them beads and necklaces to indicate their relationship. Samburu girls adore receiving these presents and adorn themselves in more and more necklaces. The girl in this picture, although now married to an elder, still shows her beads from the time of being promised to a warrior: they are the band of 8 or so thin necklaces...

I met this girl from the Turkana community of Loiyangalani very near to the shores of Lake Turkana. She was walking with her head covered to provide some...

A portrait of Acuan, a Turkana man from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with na...

A portrait of Lemarleni, a Samburu man from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken wit...

A portrait of Lemarleni, a Samburu man from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken wit...

A portrait of Madina, a Gabbra woman from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with ...

This portrait of Loha, a ‘Naga’ sadhu, was taken in Pashupatinath, one of Hinduism’s holiest sites. Lord Pashupatinath is a manifestation of Lord Shiva and the name translates to ‘protector of the animals’. Naga sadhus cover themselves in ash and typically wander naked from head to toe. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

This portrait of Loha, a ‘Naga’ sadhu, was taken in Pashupatinath, one of Hinduism’s holiest sites. Lord Pashupatinath is a manifestation of Lord Shiva and the name translates to ‘protector of the animals’. Naga sadhus cover themselves in ash and typically wander naked from head to toe. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

A beautiful Meghwal girl from the edges of the white desert, the Rann of Kutch, an arid area bordering Pakistan in the far West of India. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

This portrait of Loha, a ‘Naga’ sadhu, was taken in Pashupatinath, one of Hinduism’s holiest sites. Lord Pashupatinath is a manifestation of Lord Shiva and the name translates to ‘protector of the animals’. Naga sadhus cover themselves in ash and typically wander naked from head to toe. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

A beautiful Meghwal girl from the edges of the white desert, the Rann of Kutch, an arid area bordering Pakistan in the far West of India. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

I met this Sadhu with such kind eyes in Kashi (another name for Varanasi) on one of the chaotic ghats. We tried and failed to take the portrait as crowds and sacred cows constantly...

I met this Sadhu with such kind eyes in Kashi (another name for Varanasi) on one of the chaotic ghats. We tried and failed to take the portrait as crowds and sacred cows constantly streamed between us. Fortunately a group of young boat-hands gave up their relatively sheltered corner of the ghat, where they had been gambling over cards, to give us five minutes of calm space. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable level of detail. His subjects calm demeanor belies the reality of harsh arid winds, extreme temperatures and dust. John Kenny’s black and white photographic portraits are taken on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa and India. All shot with natural light and with the subjects in their day to day attire they reveal the pride and strength inherent in tradional ways of life. The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount...

I met this Sadhu with such kind eyes in Kashi (another name for Varanasi) on one of the chaotic ghats. We tried and failed to take the portrait as crowds and sacred cows constantly...

A young woman of the Afar culture John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and in their day to...

A young man of the Nuer culture with distinctive scarification on his forehead. The photograph was taken in Ethiopia but like many of the Nuer he had been displaced from his home in...

A young Fulani girl in Ethiopia. The Fulani have a nomadic lifestyle that sees them moving across the Sahel from Mali in the West to Ethiopia in the East. John Kenny’s work is all...

Assile was photographed at a weekly market in Key Afar in the Omo valley. Key Afar is on a hillside near the mountains, and attracts hundreds of Hamer, Banna and Tsemai in an immensely colourful gathering of people. The market is divided between livestock with men trading goats and cattle and a separate section with women selling grain, nuts, containers, head stools...

Afar Woman of Assaita by John Kenny. Portrait of an African woman. C-type Print with Acrylic Face-Mount. The town of Assaita is in the fiercely hot lowlands of the Rift Valley at t...

A young Hamer boy near the village of Turmi, Ethiopia. The young of Hamer society are at an important point in their societies’ history as their way of life is changing from a focus ...

The town of Assaita is in the fiercely hot lowlands of the Rift Valley at the very north eastern edges of Ethiopia, near to Djibouti. Unlike Ethiopia’s highlands, which are renowned for their long history of orthodox Christianity...

The Mursi are one of many groups that practice scarification in the Omo valley and are perhaps the most adept at producing intricate and beautiful patterns. The ritual of scarring, w...

The Mursi are one of many groups that practice scarification in the Omo valley and are perhaps the most adept at producing intricate and beautiful patterns. The ritual of scarring, w...

Bargi, a young Hamer girl, takes a large amount of pride in her appearance. Her clothing, jewellery and hair are carefully arranged and require a lot of attention. Her key respons...

Markets are the lifeblood of social interaction in the Omo valley as they bring together widely scattered groups for a few hours each week. For the remainder of their time, many fam...

Bargi, a young Hamer girl, takes a large amount of pride in her appearance. Her clothing, jewellery and hair are carefully arranged and require a lot of attention. Her key respons...

A young girl from one of the few Mursi villages in Mago National Park, in the lower Omo valley. The Mursi are often engaged in flood retreat cultivation around two main rivers: the O...

It was boiling hot as I walked the 3 kilometres to the Nyangatom village of Kangatan. A shimmering heat haze and occasional dust devils whipped fine powder across the flat, bare l...

It was boiling hot as I walked the 3 kilometres to the Nyangatom village of Kangatan. A shimmering heat haze and occasional dust devils whipped fine powder across the flat, bare l...

Mago National Park in southern Ethiopia is home to the Mursi, one of the most well known tribes of the Omo valley. The area is inhospitable to outsiders, because of the heat, humidi...

The Arbore of southern Ethiopia are a small group living within a few square miles of the Omo Valley. They are located near to Lake Stefanie, known locally as Chew Bahir, a body of ...

The Arbore of southern Ethiopia are a small group living within a few square miles of the Omo Valley. They are located near to Lake Stefanie, known locally as Chew Bahir, a body of ...

This Nuer man from the far west of Ethiopia was displaced from South Sudan. He has the characteristic six forehead line scars of his group and the most beautiful pattern of dots and...

The jewellery of the Arbore is among the most colourful in the whole of the Omo Valley: they are experts in recycling materials for beauty, particularly metal watch-straps. John Ken...

This Nuer man from the far west of Ethiopia was displaced from South Sudan. He has the characteristic six forehead line scars of his group and the most beautiful pattern of dots and...

The jewellery of the Arbore is among the most colourful in the whole of the Omo Valley: they are experts in recycling materials for beauty, particularly metal watch-straps. John Ken...

The jewellery of the Arbore is among the most colourful in the whole of the Omo Valley: they are experts in recycling materials for beauty, particularly metal watch-straps. John Ken...

Faye Dunaway at the Beverly Hills Hotel, 1977 (printed later) C-print 60 x 60 inches Estate stamped edition of 50 with certificate of authenticity American actress Faye Dunaway take...

This was from Muse X publishers. It came in a plastic bag signed Emily Cheng. (the plastic bag is not included) It is on Fuji crystal photo paper. It depicts two Asian faces in a cubist, fractured way, with a woman (or man) holding a photograph over his/her face. It is a proof print and is not signed or numbered. Emily Cheng (born in New York City, in 1953) is an American artist of Chinese ancestry. She is best known for large scale painting with a center focus often employing expansive circular images radiantly colored, radially composed. Cheng received her BFA in 1975 from the Rhode Island School of Design and attended the New York Studio School. Cheng has exhibited widely in the US and in Asia. In 2011, Cheng created Charting Sacred Territories, an exhibition exploring world religions which opened in the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (MOCA) , Taiwan (2011) and traveled to Hanart TZ Gallery in (2015), Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, (2015) and in Europe at the Palais Liechtenstein Feldkirch, Austria (2019). Cheng has had numerous solo shows in the US and in Asia and is represented by Hanart TZ Gallery in Hong Kong. In 2007, Timezone 8 published a monograph of Emily Cheng titled, Chasing Clouds, a decade of studies, with essays by Kevin Powers and Johnson Chang. Emily Cheng has lived and worked in New York City since 1977 and teaches Asian Art History at the School of Visual Arts. Influenced by a wide array of eastern and western artists including Van Gogh, Gauguin, Manet and Giacometti as well as de Kooning, early Philip Guston and Jackson Pollock. Nicolas Carone and Leland Bell were both among her teachers as well as Elaine de Kooning. Selected solo exhibitions Ille Arts, Amagansett, New York, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, (2015) Hanart T.Z. Gallery, Hong Kong, Zane Bennett Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, (2013) Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Taipei , Taiwan (2011) Louis Vuitton Maison, Kowloon, Hong Kong, (2010) Ayala Museum Makati, Philippines, (2006) Plum Blossom Gallery, New York, NY, (2004) Schmidt/Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO (2001) Metropolitan Museum of Manila , Philippines (1997) John Post Lee Gallery, New York, NY, Projects Room (1997) Contemporary Arts Center , Cincinnati, Ohio, 1994 David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY, (1992) Lang & O'Hara Gallery, New York, NY, The Bronx Museum of the Arts , Bronx, NY, (1989) White Columns , New York, NY, (1985) Selected group exhibitions Art Basel Hong Kong , (Hanart Gallery) , Hong Kong, 2017 China Institute, New York, NY, 2014 Beijing Art Fair, Beijing, China, 2013 Museum of Chinese in America New York, NY, 2010 Kidspace, MASS MoCA , Williamstown, MA, 2010, 2005 Museum of Contemporary Art , Shanghai, China, 2009 Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong, China, 2009 Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, 2008 Contrast Gallery, Shanghai and Beijing, China, 2008 University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum , Tampa, Florida, 2006 Hong Kong Arts Centre , Hong Kong, 2004 American Academy of Art , New York, New York, 2004 Longmarch Project, Beijing, China, 2002 Sotheby’s , New York, NY, 2001 Newhouse Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY, 2000 Katonah Museum of Art , Katonah, NY, 2000 National Academy and Museum, NY, 2000 Municipal Museum of Gyor, Hungary, 1999 New Museum of Contemporary Art , New York, NY, 1998 De Cordova Museum and the Computer Museum , Boston, MA, 1994 International Graphic Biennial, Muveszeti Museum, Hungary, 1995 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts , San Francisco, CA, 1994 Drawing Center, NY; traveled to Corcoran, Washington D.C., Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica CA; The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis MO; American Center, Paris, France, Cone Editions Gallery, New York 1990 Anina Nosei Gallery, New York, 1988 Greenville County Museum of Art , South Carolina, 1988 North Carolina Museum of Art , Hallwalls , Buffalo, NY, 1988 Grace Borgenicht Gallery , New York, 1986 Tibor de Nagy, New York, 1985 Asian American...

A portrait of Nganamya, a Turkana woman from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken wi...

A portrait of Kakuwsa, a Rendille man from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with...

A portrait of Madina, a Gabbra woman from northern Kenya in 2019. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with ...

Ancho is a Hamer woman from the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. John met her on his first journey to the region in 2006. Her portrait was featured on the front cover of a number o...

Born 1964 in Brest, France and lives in Paris. Began his career as a fashion photographer in 1986 working for the Conde Nast group. In Italy: Vogue and l’Uomo Vogue...

Lola Albrights Penthouse, 1960 C print 20 x 16 inches Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 American singer and actress Lola Albright (1924 - 2017) at Richard La...

The Royal Family 1980's C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 21 on verso A portrait of members of the British royal family; L-R: HR...

Susanna Boylston Bolton 1965 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition 1 of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Caption: Susanna ‘Sukey’ Boylston Bolton, Newport...

This was from Muse X publishers. It came in a plastic bag signed Emily Cheng. (the plastic bag is not included) It is on Fuji crystal photo paper. It depicts two Asian faces in a cub...

This was from Muse X publishers. It came in a plastic bag signed Emily Cheng. (the plastic bag is not included) It is on Fuji crystal photo paper. It depicts two Asian faces in a cubist, fractured way, with a woman (or man) holding a photograph over his/her face. It is a proof print and is not signed or numbered. Emily Cheng (born in New York City, in 1953) is an American artist of Chinese ancestry. She is best known for large scale painting with a center focus often employing expansive circular images radiantly colored, radially composed. Cheng received her BFA in 1975 from the Rhode Island School of Design and attended the New York Studio School. Cheng has exhibited widely in the US and in Asia. In 2011, Cheng created Charting Sacred Territories, an exhibition exploring world religions which opened in the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (MOCA) , Taiwan (2011) and traveled to Hanart TZ Gallery in (2015), Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, (2015) and in Europe at the Palais Liechtenstein Feldkirch, Austria (2019). Cheng has had numerous solo shows in the US and in Asia and is represented by Hanart TZ Gallery in Hong Kong. In 2007, Timezone 8 published a monograph of Emily Cheng titled, Chasing Clouds, a decade of studies, with essays by Kevin Powers and Johnson Chang. Emily Cheng has lived and worked in New York City since 1977 and teaches Asian Art History at the School of Visual Arts. Influenced by a wide array of eastern and western artists including Van Gogh, Gauguin, Manet and Giacometti as well as de Kooning, early Philip Guston and Jackson Pollock. Nicolas Carone and Leland Bell were both among her teachers as well as Elaine de Kooning. Selected solo exhibitions Ille Arts, Amagansett, New York, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, (2015) Hanart T.Z. Gallery, Hong Kong, Zane Bennett Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, (2013) Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Taipei , Taiwan (2011) Louis Vuitton Maison, Kowloon, Hong Kong, (2010) Ayala Museum Makati, Philippines, (2006) Plum Blossom Gallery, New York, NY, (2004) Schmidt/Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO (2001) Metropolitan Museum of Manila , Philippines (1997) John Post Lee Gallery, New York, NY, Projects Room (1997) Contemporary Arts Center , Cincinnati, Ohio, 1994 David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY, (1992) Lang & O'Hara Gallery, New York, NY, The Bronx Museum of the Arts , Bronx, NY, (1989) White Columns , New York, NY, (1985) Selected group exhibitions Art Basel Hong Kong , (Hanart Gallery) , Hong Kong, 2017 China Institute, New York, NY, 2014 Beijing Art Fair, Beijing, China, 2013 Museum of Chinese in America New York, NY, 2010 Kidspace, MASS MoCA , Williamstown, MA, 2010, 2005 Museum of Contemporary Art , Shanghai, China, 2009 Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong, China, 2009 Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, 2008 Contrast Gallery, Shanghai and Beijing, China, 2008 University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum , Tampa, Florida, 2006 Hong Kong Arts Centre , Hong Kong, 2004 American Academy of Art , New York, New York, 2004 Longmarch Project, Beijing, China, 2002 Sotheby’s , New York, NY, 2001 Newhouse Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY, 2000 Katonah Museum of Art , Katonah, NY, 2000 National Academy and Museum, NY, 2000 Municipal Museum of Gyor, Hungary, 1999 New Museum of Contemporary Art , New York, NY, 1998 De Cordova Museum and the Computer Museum , Boston, MA, 1994 International Graphic Biennial, Muveszeti Museum, Hungary, 1995 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts , San Francisco, CA, 1994 Drawing Center, NY; traveled to Corcoran, Washington D.C., Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica CA; The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis MO; American Center, Paris, France, Cone Editions Gallery, New York 1990 Anina Nosei Gallery, New York, 1988 Greenville County Museum of Art , South Carolina, 1988 North Carolina Museum of Art , Hallwalls , Buffalo, NY, 1988 Grace Borgenicht Gallery , New York, 1986 Tibor de Nagy, New York, 1985 Asian American...

This was from Muse X publishers. It came in a plastic bag signed Emily Cheng. (the plastic bag is not included) It is on Fuji crystal photo paper. It depicts two Asian faces in a cub...

Polo Prince 1985 C print 12 x 12 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity August 1985, Charles, Prince of Wales, after playing polo for th...

Nan Goldin (b. 1953) is unquestionably one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Her intimate images emphasize her subject’s individuality, infusing them with d...

Miles Aldridge (Colour Photography) Signed and numbered on reverse Chromogenic print 14 × 21 inches Edition of 10 + 2 AP Miles Aldridge’s singular aesthetic is characterised by the ...

20 x 24 in (50.8 x 60.9 cm) Digital C-Type Print Edition 13 and 14 of 50 Price does not include tax.

Tania Mallet 1960, Printed Later C print 20 x 20 inches Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Caption: Actress Tania Mall...

Norman Parkinson Antonio Lopez draws Jerry Hall 1975 C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 21 on verso Caption: Antonio Lopez draws model Jerry Hall as she poses with a lif...

Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962), wearing a red negligee trimmed with black lace, sorts out her fan mail shortly after her film 'The Asphalt Jungle' had been rele...

Christian Rothmann ROBOTNICS Series C-Print 2019 Edition S (Edition of 10) 12 x 8.3 inches (30.5 x 21 cm) Signed, dated and numbered verso Other Edition Sizes available: - Edition M (Edition of 6) 35.4 x 23.6 inches (90 x 60 cm) - Edition L (Edition of 6) 47.2 x 31.5 inches (120 x 80 cm) - Edition XL (Edition of 3) 88.8 x 58.8 inches (225 x 150 cm) PUR - Price Upon Request -------------- Since 1979 Christian Rothmann had more than 40 solo and 80 group exhibitions worldwide. Christian Rothmann had guest lectures, residencies, art fairs and biennials in Europe, Japan, USA, Australia and Korea. Christian Rothmann (born 1954 in Kędzierzyn, Poland ) is a painter, photographer, and graphic artist.⁠ ⁠ In 1976 he first studied at the “Hochschule für Gestaltung” in Offenbach, Germany and moved to Berlin in 1977, where he graduated in 1983 at the “Hochschule der Künste”. From 1983 to 1995 he taught at the university as a lecturer and as an artist with a focus on screenprinting and American art history. To date, a versatile body of work has been created, which includes not only paintings but also long-standing photo projects, videos, and public art.⁠ ⁠ Guest lectures, teaching assignments, scholarships and exhibitions regularly lead Rothmann to travel home and abroad.⁠ ------------------------ Rothmann's Robots These creatures date back to another era, and they connect the past and the future. They were found by Christian Rothmann, a Berlin artist, collector and traveler through time and the world: In shops in Germany and Japan, Israel and America, his keen eye picks out objects cast aside by previous generations, but which lend themselves to his own work. In a similar way, he came across a stash of historic toy robots of varied provenance collected by a Berlin gallery owner many years ago. Most of them were screwed and riveted together in the 1960s and 70s by Metal House, a Japanese company that still exists today. In systematically photographing these humanoids made of tin - and later plastic - Rothmann is paraphrasing the idea of appropriation art. Unknown names designed and made the toys, which some five decades on, Rothmann depicts and emblematizes in his extensive photo sequence. In their photographs of Selim Varol's vast toy collection, his German colleagues Daniel and Geo Fuchs captured both the stereotypical and individual in plastic figures that imitate superheroes which were and still are generally manufactured somewhere in Asia. Christian Rothmann looks his robots deep in their artificially stylized, painted or corrugated eyes - or more aptly, their eye slits - and although each has a certain degree of individuality, the little figures remain unknown to us; they project nothing and are not alter egos. Rothmann trains his lens on their faces and expressions, and thus, his portraits are born. Up extremely close, dust, dents, and rust become visible. In other words, what we see is time-traces of time that has passed since the figures were made, or during their period in a Berlin attic, and - considering that he robots date back to Rothmann's childhood - time lived by the photographer and recipients of his pictures. But unlike dolls, these mechanical robots bear no reference to the ideal of beauty at the time of their manufacture, and their features are in no way modeled on a concrete child's face. In this art project the robots appear as figures without a context, photographed face-on, cropped in front of a neutral background and reduced to their qualities of form. But beyond the reproduction and documentation a game with surfaces is going on; our view lingers on the outer skin of the object, or on the layer over it. The inside - which can be found beneath - is to an extent metaphysical, occurring inside the observer's mind. Only rarely is there anything to see behind the robot's helmet. When an occasional human face does peer out, it turns the figure into a robot-like protective casing for an astronaut of the future. If we really stop and think about modern toys, let's say those produced from the mid 20th century, when Disney and Marvel films were already stimulating a massive appetite for merchandising, the question must be: do such fantasy and hybrid creatures belong, does something like artificial intelligence already belong to the broader community of humans and animals? It is already a decade or two since the wave of Tamagotchis washed in from Japan, moved children to feed and entertain their newly born electronic chicks in the way they would a real pet, or to run the risk of seeing them die. It was a new form of artificial life, but the relationship between people and machines becomes problematic when the machines or humanoid robots have excellent fine motor skills and artificial intelligence and sensitivity on a par with, or even greater than that of humans. Luckily we have not reached that point yet, even if Hollywood adaptations would have us believe we are not far away. Rothmann's robots are initially sweet toys, and each toy is known to have a different effect on children and adults. They are conceived by (adult) designers as a means of translating or retelling history or reality through miniature animals, knights, and soldiers. In the case of monsters, mythical creatures, and robots, it is more about creating visions of the future and parallel worlds. Certainly, since the success of fantasy books and films such as Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, we see the potential for vast enthusiasm for such parallel worlds. Successful computer and online games such as World of Warcraft, or the creation of avatars are also interesting worldwide phenomena of virtual realities that are not only relevant for children and teens. So when a middle-aged Berlin photographic artist (like Christian Rothmann) chooses to study 120 toy robots with great difference in form, it represents a journey back to his own childhood - even if at the time, he played with a steam engine rather than a robot. Once batteries had been inserted, some of the largely male or gender-neutral robots, could flash, shoot, turn around and even do more complicated things. Some can even still do it today - albeit clumsily. This, of course, can only be seen on film, but the artist intends to document that as well; to feature the robots in filmic works of art. The positioning of the figures in the studio is the same as the tableau of pictures in the exhibition room. In this way, one could say Rothmann deploys one robot after the other. This systematic approach enables a comparative view; the extreme enlargement of what are actually small and manageable figures is like the macro vision of insects whose fascinating, sometimes monster-like appearance only becomes visible when they are blown up a hundredfold. The same thing goes for the robots; in miniature form, they seem harmless and cute, but if they were larger than humans and made noises to match, they would seem more threatening. Some of the tin figures...