Albrecht Tübke and “Different vs. The Same”

image
(from “Dalliendorf”)
© Albrecht Tübke

image
(from “Dalliendorf”)
© Albrecht Tübke

image
(from “Dalliendorf”)
© Albrecht Tübke

On the list of New Photographers 2006, besides William Lamson, Matthew Monteith, and Pieter Hugo, the full body portraits from Dalliendorf (a village in Germany with a population of 150) by German photographer Albrecht Tübke stood out. His subjects were just seeping with character.

After making my way to Tübke’s website I discovered his Heads series, reminding me of the Different vs. The Same conversation that was happening over on Speak, See, Remember, where Christian proposed that repetitious projects are essentially the same idea and the same shot executed over and over and are, therefore, less interesting than projects that incorporate a variety of subject matter and approach in their work.

While I often find myself agreeing with this, I can’t say this is always true.

image
(from “Heads”)
© Albrecht Tübke

image
(from “Heads”)
© Albrecht Tübke

image
(from “Heads”)
© Albrecht Tübke

It seems that Albrecht Tübke often works in this manner, but Heads is his most repetitious endeavour, placing his subjects in virtually the same lighting situation, location, and even, for the most part, keeping the same framing. For me, these types of photographs can really resonate when paired with other, more “establishing” images, such as landscapes and interors (which Tübke does with his Dalliendorf project) but something about this type of series can, somehow, work on its own.

So, not to add fuel to the fire, but I can’t help but ask – more specifically:

When does “sameness” work and when does it fail?