Frank Kirchner
Fotograf

“

“There is a thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible.”
Charles De Lint

Ich möchte den magischen Moment ein bisschen sichtbar machen: im realen Leben – besonders beim Maltesischen Karneval. Er ist voller Magie, manchmal nicht auf dem ersten Blick!

Bitte folgen Sie mir:
Karneval in Malta – ohne Maske!

Foto Ausstellung “Maltese Carnival” in Spazju Kreattiv, Space B, in Valletta, Januar – 6. März 2022

Meine Ausstellungsbilder erzählen eine einfühlsame Geschichte der verschiedenen Facetten des Maltesischen Karnevals. In den letzten 5 Jahren haben mir viele Karnevalsenthusiasten ihre Türen zu den Lagerhäusern geöffnet. Damit haben sie mir die Möglichkeit gegeben: für einen profunden Einblick hinter den Kulissen.

Karneval in Malta ist mehr als eine Veranstaltung, es ist mehr als Lifestyle an der Oberfläche. Es ist ein Sinnbild der realen Welt, der wahrhaftigen Bedeutung von Kultur: mit Gefühlen und Leidenschaft. Ein Drama in vermutlich unzähligen Akten.

Interview am 11. Februar 2022 im Frühstücksfernsehen TVM mit Jason Busuttil, künstlerischer Leiter des Karnevals auf Malta. Dort stellt er die Fotoausstellung im Kulturzentrum „Spazju Kreattiv“ in Valletta vor.

Reaktionen zu der Foto Ausstellung „Maltese Carnival“:

Holger Camilleri

“Frank… you’re much more than a friend – you’re one of us nowadays! Good luck and looking forward to visit your masterpieces and exhibition.”

Holger Camilleri
Jason Micallef

“Frank has adopted Valletta and Valletta has adopted Frank. His passion for anything Maltese speaks loudly in every image.” His lens has artfully captured life around the Maltese islands. Each image is an open invitation for the eye to enter and wander in. His images depicting our carnival are dazzling and bewildering. Frank’s work evokes the truth of how Malta looks and feels. He is truly a unique cultural ambassador for Malta. Thank you Frank for your friendship.” Jason Micallef, Chairman Valletta Cultural Agency
Jeremy Mercieca

“Frank – a professional photographer who is fascinated with Maltese Carnival. His photos are a momento and give praise to all the volunteers who sacrifice their time and family in order to produce magnificent master pieces. Thank you Frank, you keep our memories alive! “

Jeremy Mercieca
Catherine Tabone

“Frank is an artist whose work recounts reality in the most honest and unembellished of ways. His photos capture life as it happens; they are snapshots that give viewers a taste of a particular moment in time. Aside from their creative component, his photos are often excellent historical documentation for the future.”

Catherine Tabone CEO – Valletta Cultural Agency
Sarah Jayne

“You are like us, a gypsy! Have fun.”

Sarah Jayne Film director – Nexus Production Group
Carlo Olivari Demanuele

“Frank does not only capture a moment, but he picks up the essence of what being a carnival enthusiast means,that is sacrifice, talent, skills, and perseverance. Most of all he portrays the sense of community, involvement,renewed traditions and the true meaning of culture.”

Carlo Olivari Demanuele
Bertold Schmitt-Feuerbach

“Frank’s photos show us the heart and soul of Maltese carnival.”

Bertold Schmitt-Feuerbach (editor, Valletta| Das Journal)
Winfried Trenkler

“I have experienced and admired Frank Kirchner on long journeys as a landscape photographer. Since then I have watched his love for Malta, the Maltese and their culture develop and deepen.

A particularly beautiful flowering of this culture is the carnival which is easy to take photos of.But the carnival is not exhausted in its attractive surface alone, it contains much more, it is deep culture.

To capture this depth and richness in pictures it takes a photographer of exceptional quality.One with a curious and understanding mind and eye for all facets of this cultural event.Frank Kirchner is one of those few. His fotos show the necessary work, the meticulous effort, the solidary cooperation,the joy of the creative process, the “being lost in dreams”, the tense expectation, the self-confidence in the presentation.

In this exhibition you see the manifest and lasting result of collective carnival creation and at the same time the many,many individual fantasies that are possible and welcome within this cultural framework. I take the liberty of offering an advice to all viewers: walk, glide along these pictures, open yourself to their filigree details, marvel at the dreams of your fellow human beings and take something with you into your daydreams!”

Winfried Trenkler, (Radio man and mediator of music)