Cologne, layer by layer

Texts on the work: ‘Cologne, layer by layer’

‘Michael Haus visualises phenomena of our living environment in a completely different way. His focus is on urban architecture.

In contrast to a classic documentary representation, he is not only interested in depicting the urban space, but rather in creating his own pictorial spaces with fragmentary views that express the special charm of Cologne’s patchwork architecture.

In his façade remix, layer by layer he reveals the different stagings of architecture in interaction with signs, images and objects of our everyday culture.

Detached from a purely functional consideration, all the details in his photographs develop their very own effect and together create a complex network of historical, sociological and aesthetic references.’

Wolfgang Zurborn, photographer

‘A single step, a little more or less light often decide the character of a photo. All of these aspects can be experienced in the exhibition by simply looking at them.

This exhibition is therefore not only beautiful, but also instructive. And Michael Haus’ photographs really do show most visitors to the exhibition a Cologne they have never seen before.

Layer by layer, they move away from the clichés that characterise the photographic view of Cologne. And they discover that the beauty of Cologne is not only linked to the cathedral, but also to the countless details of an incredibly small-scale city, in which, contrary to all preconceptions about its ugliness, in many places it is precisely the quirks that create an enchanting splendour.’

Jürgen Kisters, cultural journalist for the Kölner Stadtanzeiger on 26 June 2014 about the solo exhibition at the VHS Galerie Köln-Lindenthal