In 2003 Hanns Otte was invited by the Landesgalerie Linz to apply his concept of capturing urban systems through photography also to the town of Linz. The situation proved to be so rewarding for the Austrian artist that his initial stay resulted in a long-term project in Linz. Over a period of just under four years Hanns Otte spent entire weeks on site re-examining time and time again his personal perceptions and impressions. The reason the photographs of Linz that emerged as a result are so very special is that, in his images, Hanns Otte moves with great precision between concrete urban settings and locations barely noticed by the general public. In his project the artist has, overall, showcased a very particular form of the visualisation of fields of reality through photography. Hanns Otte refuses to eulogise the wasteland. So his photographs are factual in the best possible sense of the word.
Nina Schedlmayer in Eikon 66 / 2009

Hanns Otte, *1955 in Salzburg, Austria. Lives and works in Salzburg.