Tom works in construction, he lives with his mother, stepfather and stepbrother in a condemned farmhouse in rural nowhere. In his free time, Tom tinkers with his stereo or the cars standing around. Tom meets his Turkish friend, smokes Memphis and works out with the exercise bike. Tom wears a jumper that says.
“Versace”, “hacks” and goes to the army in between. For two years, from 2004 to 2006, Paul Kranzler visited Tom and his family again and again and accompanied them photographically. “Tom” has become an unvarnished but also benevolent portrait of the life of a patchwork family in the Austrian province and is thus in a photographic tradition established by Manfred Willmann in “Das Land”. “Tom” is an expedition into the countryside, this foreign continent on our doorstep. As in “Land of Milk and Honey”, Paul Kranzler has delved into the lives of people in our society in his new work and brought back powerful photographs. He shows us what holds these people’s lives together, what his points of reference and integration rites are, and what his dignity consists of. The everyday life of Tom’s family is nothing special. However, Tom and his closest relatives do not define themselves by “healthier food” or all-wood furniture. They have no desire for social mimicry. They are what they are. And they have everything they need to live – and above all themselves, a functioning community as a survival strategy in a cold society. The book has an introductory text by Markus Binder, the drummer and lyricist of the duo “Attwenger”. The congenial cover design should also be emphasised – matching the content, the photo book is covered with an indestructible, nut-brown imitation wood foil.

Paul Kranzler, *1979 in Linz; lives and works in Linz.