Interview with Sue-Elie Andrade-Dé
Where are you from and what is your approach to Photography?
I am from Germany. Born in 1958. I was raised in Düsseldorf and studied photography at the Folkwang School in Essen. Since 2011 I have lived in Berlin.
Photography is my medium to reflect on human nature. I ask questions about the individuality of a human being and the conditions of the world we are living in. I focus on the topic of IDENTITY by means of a subjective documentary style.
The project „Colossal Youth“ that was selected for THE SMELL OF DUST is a series you made at the end of the 80’s. Could you tell us a bit more about this project? What were you looking for by photographing your friends? What was your state of mind at that time ?
I photographed COLOSSAL YOUTH from 1988 – 1990 in Essen, which belonged to West Germany at that time. It took me the two years previous to approach the topic of youth and to find the appropriate people.
I stepped into this group as a stranger and became familiar with those I photographed. I emotionally reconnected to the feelings I had had as a teenager. I had been searching for this unbound will to live one‘s own way in the mood of immortality and invincibility.
Looking at these bacchanalian gatherings with the eyes of a 30 year old adult made me on the one hand concerned about this high-wire balance close to crashing. Neverthe‘less was fearlessness the connection to my own state of mind. I had internalized my capacities in formulating my point of view by means of a straight photography. I had been self-confident about the importance of my work and conceived it as a statement against submission.
In parallel I have photographed DEUTSCHE VOLKSFESTE, commissioned by STERN Magazine.
You published a book with this series. How do you consider books in your practice?
A book provides a presence and permanence you can not wipe off. It is a mobile presentation that travels the world. It has a tactile quality, is limited and precious. I realize my projects over years, collect images, estimate their quality in comparison to each other and finally reduce them to the necessary minimum. When a body of work is ready to be published, it is intended to be both, an exhibition and a book.
Finally, what does the name of the project „THE SMELL OF DUST“ evokes to you?
A dusty throat awaiting a cold beer.
Published in 2015 // THE SMELL OF DUST