Martin A. Völker / Farzin Foroutan #LostFoundTogetherness – Photography

Martin A. Völker / Farzin Foroutan #LostFoundTogetherness – Photography

As part of the Month of Photography Off-Berlin, we are showing the double exhibition #LostFoundTogetherness, in which the photo artists Martin A. Völker (*1972) and Farzin Foroutan (*1992) conduct an image dialogue of their own perception of the world with new works: Völker revolves around life at the turn of an era, which leads to forlornness and dehumanisation; Foroutan explores the challenges of his adaptation to a new living environment and takes up themes such as belonging and identity

In the double exhibition #LostFoundTogetherness, the photo artists Martin A. Völker (*1972) and Farzin Foroutan (*1992) conduct a pictorial dialogue of their own perception of the world with new works: the family man born in West Berlin and the 20 years younger Iranian immigrant who has been living in Berlin for four years. Martin A. Völker circles around life in destructive times and transforms facets of an increasingly inhumane world as a ‘Disposal Area’ into surreal beauty that connects. Farzin Foroutan explores the challenges of adapting to a new world and addresses themes such as visibility, connectedness and identity formation. He explores efforts to overcome divisiveness in order to promote a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience in Berlin. Both artists show that everything that stands between us can be transformed into the magic of togetherness. Their images speak to the fact that we seem to have lost a lot today, and that the art of life is to find something new or to find ourselves in the new. Life should not mean ‘lost in migration’, which includes both external and internal migration.

Martin A. Völker’s work deals with life at a new epochal threshold: much around us seems nightmarish. Dehumanisation circles around us and sometimes creeps deep into our lives and innermost thoughts. The daily expansion of the quality time zone is becoming a tough business that hides many things that actually need to be noticed and changed. We can’t have our eyes and ears everywhere, we turn away, knowing full well that bad things are happening behind our backs and that there are people who need a helping hand. Sometimes we feel like those who are lost and unnoticed behind a broad back. In Berlin, it all comes together, the casual and the neglected, the hopeful and the hopeless, the miracle and the wounded, the beach bar and the stranded. In Berlin, things come together that belong together, even though they were not meant to be together. The city’s spirit is characterised by its provisional and project-based nature. Something can emerge here that would have no place elsewhere.

The new works by Martin A. Völker give the turning point a face. They show the damage that people suffer and the scars that everyone carries around with them inside and out. The damaged and deformed are not concealed, but chosen to unfold new aesthetic charms that fulfil the need for beauty. Völker’s pictures tell of losing and regaining pride and dignity, as well as how we live and want to live, what individuals gain or lose when they decide to live together. What does living together actually mean? Does living together mean looking in the same direction together, but having long been divided and dead inside? Does living together mean gathering together as a watching audience or gathering together, freeing oneself from the brain fog in order to find oneself in and with others? Living together can mean courageously throwing oneself into the synthesis, into the remix, in order to create something new. That is the Berlin way of life. Martin A. Völker creates it with motifs that he collects and assembles on his daily forays through the city. The pictures, which he calls ‘derangements’, draw on natural photographic realities, which, due to unusual perspectives, overlooked everyday objects and phenomena, lead to the dreamlike. Völker develops classic street photography into a magical realism that has literary models. His narrative photography hovers between documentation, painting and printmaking. Technically, he deliberately moves beyond the usual Photoshop practice. Völker is more interested in lo-fi photography, as the high-end craze and the perfect AI wave feel like a lie at the turn of the century. The processing of his shots in classic black and white is largely analogue before the colouring is done digitally, comparable to the mixed production steps and the so-called SPARS code of a CD in DAD.

In his new series ‘Interspatial Camouflage’, Farzin Foroutan explores a deeply personal turning point – the works are a reflection of his own daily experiences in the field of tension between fitting in and wanting to stand out. He has always been inspired by sayings such as the Persian proverb ‘If you wish not to be disgraced, blend in with the crowd’ or the German ‘mit den Wölfen heulen’ [howl with the wolves]. They contain a truth that resonates: the way we adapt to fit into new spaces, often remodelling parts of our being just to feel accepted.

The ‘Interspatial Camouflage’ series arose from Foroutan’s fascination with how we, like animals, develop our own forms of camouflage: We adopt new ‘colours’ and ‘patterns’ to survive in an unfamiliar environment. At first glance, this adaptation feels like protection, a way to connect and belong. But at the same time, he has often wondered at what point adapting means losing sight of oneself. Each photo in his new series reflects this inner conflict. The multi-layered textures and obscured figures reflect the many versions of self that he has developed since arriving in Berlin four years ago: sometimes authentic, sometimes merely imagined, sometimes long-lasting, sometimes fleeting. The realisation of his new works forced the artist to confront the silent battles he has repeatedly fought to remain true to who and what he is.

With this series, Foroutan hopes to not only share his inner struggle, his own journey, but to make a universal journey recognisable: a journey that explores invisible spaces within us, where the pressure to conform meets the longing to be whole or holistic. It is an invitation to reflect on the delicate balance between visibility and invisibility, connection and authenticity: who are we when we actually are, and no longer try to fit in? Foroutan’s artistic approach combines staged photography, digital manipulation, and analog techniques to further explore these themes of adaptation and identity. By incorporating Polaroid photography and handmade photo collages, later digitally enlarging them, he disrupts scale and perception, reinforcing the tension between presence and disappearance. The physical act of cutting, layering, and reconstructing images mirrors the process of self-remodeling—fragmenting and reassembling one’s identity in response to new environments. Through this interplay of analog tactility and digital precision, Foroutan challenges the boundaries between reality and illusion, offering a poetic meditation on transformation and belonging.

About the artists

Martin A. Völker (*1972 in West Berlin) is a writer (member of the PEN Centre Germany) and art photographer specialising in conceptual street photography. He captures the diversity of urban life and develops street photography in the direction of magical realism. He is influenced by his many years as a lecturer in cultural studies and aesthetics at Berlin’s Humboldt University. His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Martin A. Völker lives and works in Berlin.

Further information on the artist you find here.

Farzin Foroutan (*1992 in Mashhad, Iran) is an Iranian artist specialising in photography and visual arts. He endeavours to capture the essence of the world around him and explores his connection with society and the environment with extreme sensitivity. His creative journey is rooted in his immediate surroundings, memories and personal perceptions and serves as a constant inspiration and starting point for his artistic expression. His work has been shown internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including in Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Lebanon and Italy. Farzin Foroutan lives and works in Berlin.

Further information on the artist you find here.