Erich Hartmann “Erich always had a camera available, resulting in many family pictures. The children and I became oblivious as he recorded our everyday activities, and we were agreeable when asked to pose so he c
(...) ould experiment with a new film or lens. This time was quite different. I felt a bit like William Tell's son, when Erich asked me to sit in a specific chair with my eyes closed. He had been taking photographs of abstract patterns produced by refracted laser light. Now he wanted to combine that light with me as the subject. I survived (he was not, after all, using the light as a weapon), and the resulting image became part of a large exhibit of similar work entitled ‘A Play of Light’, or sometimes ‘Writing with Light’.
When asked about these pictures of laser light incorporated in not only portraits, but also landscapes, interiors and nudes, he said, ‘These photographs give me a sense of satisfaction because I have been able to use familiar, sometimes commonplace situations and, by the introduction of an unfamiliar way of using light, transform them into images, which seem to me disquieting, questioning.’"
– Ruth Bains Hartmann, Erich Hartmann Estate © Erich Hartmann | Magnum Photos
