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georgkatstaller

IV. KOMBINATI




The depiction of ruin through the medium of photography has played an essential role in the recording of world events. Throughout history, abandoned architectural structures have symbolized lost knowledge, memory, the transience of humanity and the possibilities of the future.

Photographs of ancient ruins function as historical documents and serve a cultural desire to understand ancient societies. Ancient ruins help us define the past, but it is the contemporary ruin that informs the present. While the ruins of antiquity inspire a sense of romanticism, the communist era ruin functions to some degree as a reminder of social failure.



During the last two decades since acquiring independence, the former Soviet republic of Georgia has often appeared in the international news for all the wrong reasons. War, instability, corruption, and Stalin. But there is more to Georgia than that. Georgia is a somewhat unexplored subject artistically and photographically.

Today, most Georgians are keen to forget their nation’s communist years and move on into the 21st century. But as they do, the monoliths of the former regime still cast down long shadows from Caucasus mountains.



We explore what we do not know or do not fully understand, and that is perhaps what makes me explore places. I’m severely affected by my background in architecture, being far more concerned with space, figure and scale than, the visual storytelling. I am drowned to photograph areas that are somewhat marginalized or overlooked.

This body of work contributes to a historical and cultural dialogue that simultaneously informs and challenges viewers to consider issues affecting our global society. My motivation was not to preserve these structures but to archive the changing face of Georgia.