Chris Dreier is one of the few photographers dealing with the aspects of the view from below. Her black and white pinhole photographs taken from a ground perspective show places that seem to lie in a Stiltskinesque sleep. Are these places accessible or will they keep their secret? Should we awaken them or is it better to let them sleep? Will the prevailing twilight fade away or will darkness swallow anything visible?
'The Grim North' is the title of her exhibition and this north, with its leaden skies, wet tarmac, dark empty streets and houses is grim indeed. The places depicted are Belfast, Derry and Berlin. All these towns are full of visible and invisible boundaries, characterized by hot and cold wars, where the shadows tell a story of terror, hate and sectarian conflict. Chris Dreier treads carefully. Her only tool consists of a medium-sized biscuit box with a tiny hole in one side and a slow film within waiting to be exposed for forty minutes or longer and nothing more.
When she is interested in a certain motif she positions her camera on the ground by the side of the road and the only thing that could draw attention is her loitering.

Pinhole photography is a technique popular due to relatively easy handling, also because the results sometimes look as if they were created in the times of Niepce and Daguerre. The baffling effect soon wears out, though, similar to an unexpected appearance in historic costume.
Chris Dreier avoids the trap of nostalgia through the careful choice of her motifs: with a good sense for the special atmosphere of localities, she produces results that leave the viewer with the impression that the particular consistency of place, image and technique can indeed not be achieved with any other medium.
It works the same with her Berlin pictures: in her own topography Berlin is another part of the ‘Grim North’: a hard, unsentimental place with outposts such as clubs like the 'Maria' and the 'Bar 25' having to prepare themselves for possible eviction.
Here even nature is defensive: the progressively vanishing wastelands near those places look like jungles. Like Maria Sybilla Merian in Surinam before her Chris Dreier can prove her patience and pursue her studies on urban nature and life at ground level.

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LAURA MARS GRP.
Sorauerstr. 3
10997 Berlin
Tel. 0049 - (0)30 - 61074630
Fax. 0049 - (0)30 – 61074631
e-mail: info@lauramars.de
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Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 1-7 pm, Saturday 12-4 pm