Torben Eskerod’s photographic practice is rooted in the documentation of landscapes, architecture, and faces. Large format close-up shots organized in series invite the viewer to plunge into the state of contemplative meditation, explore their own soul, and turn to their inner memory.

For many years, Torben has been concerned with the notion of death, which is often considered a taboo subject in modern culture. Eskerod’s approach to death is far from that of the classic photography. He uses outdated films to capture weathered burial photographs, framed with flowers and fallen leaves, at Campo Verano, a legendary cemetery in Rome, achieving unrealistic colors and evocative, breathing texture of the photograph. In contrast, faces from the series Life and Death Masks have a deliberately artificial appearance: one could hardly tell them from 3D models. In such a way, the artist extracts the photographs from their original context, transforms their integument, making them resemble ‘art objects.’

Landscapes and portraits by Eskerod not only capture exact locations or appearances but provide an artistic perspective on a dialogical investigation of the photographic surface, space, and the viewer’s corporeal experience.

The exhibition includes 5 series, over 70 works, and 1 experimental photo installation.

Supported by the Danish Cultural Institute, Danish Art Foundation, and St. Petersburg Committee for Culture

In the framework of the Festival of Photography of the Nordic Countries at ROSPHOTO