Since the early 1980s the Austrian photographer Werner Schnelle has worked on a body of work referred to as abstract but also (paradoxically) concrete photography. Abstract in the sense that his photographs capture tracked light and motion, creating complex tracked movements from the depths of the black image space that deny any form of narrative photography. And concrete in the sense that his photographs only use fundamental photographic elements – light trails, chemical reactions, photograms – and therefore refer to the building blocks that make up the photographic process. Werner Schnelle’s originals are often contact copies of large-format negatives or photograms and process engravings created directly on the photographic paper as originals. The excellent large-format duplex print reveals the details and subtleties of the work. Introductory texts and commentaries by Margit Zuckriegl and Kurt Kaindl provide an insight into a photographic approach which has been embraced by only a small group of fine art photographers. The photo book once again illustrates the fundamentals of analogue photography and broadens the horizon to encompass the universe of technical images.

Werner Schnelle, * 1942 in Vienna, Austria. Lives and works in Salzburg.