As Time Goes By

In front of the neutral backdrop of an anonymous photo studio, Barbara Davatz portrayed twelve young couples in 1982. Their pose is strictly frontal, looking straight at the camera. They are lovers, close friends, relatives, or business friends. She records the personal and collective data of the sitters with conceptual detachment, but also as a participant. In 1988 and in 1997, she contacted her sitters again, creating a rigorous document of the continuity and change in these lives and relationships, tracing the development of self-perception and style. As she photographed every sitter with his or her current partner, an intricate network of relationships became visible. According to Barbara Davatz, “every picture is the record of a relationship—the sum of the pictures is a record of time. ” With texts by Nicole Müller, Sigrid Pallmert, and Patrick Frey.