“A political family photo album.”
— one of the project participants
“I find your project fascinating — especially because putting up campaign posters, not just my own, still feels very special to me. It’s not only that you quite literally ‘show your face,’ but that it’s such a direct, hands-on expression of democracy.”
— one of the project participants
The project versos features people, particularly politicians, hanging their own campaign posters. However, the actual poster is not visible, showing only its clean, white backside. White iconographically represents purity, innocence, and intellectual clarity. During every election, there is an attempt, or at least a promise, to rethink politics, find new solutions for existing problems, and attract supporters for one’s ideas or party in a new, more efficient way.
The face of the person making these promises plays a significant role. Many posters rely on the portrait of a politician, meant to be recognized and thus instill greater trust in both the person and the party. Others use images showing the politician interacting with the public. The textual message is often kept brief to speak more directly and highlight the universal nature of the message.
In this photography project, the aim is to interlink these three levels. The result are the images that recursively overlap these three dimensions. In one image, without creating tautologies through the actual poster image, there is: a person/politician, a performative action of this person during which their image as a politician is created, and an election poster as a form without content.
The purpose of the project is to reflect on how the political image of an individual is created. At the same time, a single image should show the portrait of the natural person (as opposed to their legal identity as a politician), their societal position (as a politician), and the medium through which this position communicates with society (the election poster).
The name of the project merges the term "versus" (Latin for “turned, reversed”) as a synonym for “against” or “opposite”, and the variation of this term "verso", which refers to the backside of a sheet of paper, papyrus, parchment, or a banknote.
The project is initiated on the occasion of the 2024 elections for the 8th Brandenburg State Parliament. Participation in the project is free of charge for all participants.
For a detailed description of the project methodology, please scroll down.
❏ Download a PDF with a German translation
