The analogous photographic work The Unapproachable is concerned with trees those stand alone and work in their predominantly urban environment.
There are trees that stand out impressively, blend harmoniously into a cityscape or lose themselves as insignificant accessories.
Thus the trees are also symbolic of the assertion and loneliness of man in the anonymity and dynamism of the modern city. Freestanding trees in urban areas are often difficult to find. In newly created settlements and urban districts, they are often constructed as conformal groups of trees. The more they attract attention. The trees separate from the surroundings, sit down from streets, houses and squares. They evoke images, memories and thoughts. They have a character. They become a symbol. They are the unapproachable.
Contrary to my other projects, where people always play a direct role, this time they only act indirectly. The focus here is on the unapproachable, the trees, which at the same time symbolize the people in the city.
The photographer Marc Peschke wrote about the series: „They’re different. They have a different aura – perhaps even in the classical sense, according to Walter Benjamin, who defined the concept of “aura” as a special mixture of inaccessibility, authenticity and uniqueness, just to regret the decay of this aura in the age of technical reproducibility.
Above all, it is the unapproachability that fascinates the viewer – and which has also given its name to the series. The trees seem to lead a life of their own, radiate a special energy, as Benjamin discovered at van Gogh, to explain his concept of aura: “There is nothing as true of the real aura as van Gogh’s late paintings, Where the aura is co-painted in all things – so one could describe these pictures. ” The distance from the things that surround it is the odd thing in these pictures. It is not interwoven with nature, with the environment, but, on the contrary, the abstraction of it, makes Feigl’s trees something special. They are all trees with character worthy to be cast into images. A splendid palm tree surpasses a dwelling-house, the historic old town of Brest in France looks small against the tree in the foreground: the buildings of the people, its streets and paths often have a lesser effect than they are in reality – next to the natural tree neighbors. Looking at these images, one becomes thoughtful.“
With the help of a black & white infrared film, the visibility of the trees is amplified and extended to a dimension of reality, which is thus not visible to humans. At the same time, the special charm of pictures from a pinhole camera neutralizes the intrusion of urban details. The 76 images of the whole series were created in Germany, France, England, Poland, USA, China and Japan. [Official Website]
