In May of 1994 I relocated from Berlin, Germany to Los Angeles, California. Although it is called the Golden State it took me a while to get used to the never ending sunshine and easy disposition of it’s inhabitants. After all the Berlin I left behind was just undergoing to biggest transformation since the end of Second World War — the fall of the Berlin Wall.
When I moved to San Francisco in one of the rainiest winters and started to work on a masters program in photography I started to seek out some local photographers of German heritage. Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006) was already well into her nineties when somehow I got permission to interview her for a German newspaper in her elegantly appointed apartment in Pacific Heights. The article never got published, but the visit with her was very quite remarkable.
Ruth inspired me to keep looking at what speaks to me and “never say no”. At some point she made money photographing people’s pets and dolls, and even those she somehow turned into art.
The illuminated doorknob was inspired by the work of Ruth Bernhard. Beauty is in everyday life.
Gabriele Lange 