Days have Numbers
Michael Fent

Finally, Matthias.His father died from cancer when he was 15 years old. Four years later, his mother was killed in an accident. In a notebook, Matthias writes in the dates of the birth and death of his parents.Death accompanies us in our daily lives in several forms: in the process of ageing, in the metaphysical dimension of life and as personal tragedy. Photographs of landscapes are introduced to complement the portraits and personal items of each of the subjects. These melancholic pictures, some depicting dead trees on a misty morning, reinforce the dramatic core that lies at the heart of the themes being considered. Creating a forlorn and post-apocalyptic atmosphere, these photographs reflect the complexity of human feelings towardsdeath. In his investigations, Michael Fent oscillates between poetry, abstraction and documentation. He chiefly describes people who, in different ways, have accepted the idea of death and their own deaths, people who aspire to it and see it as a form of liberation, a passage leading to the elevationof the soul, or as a partner in a mortal’s life. Parallel to this, his visions of nature transform a sense of the finiteness of life into poetic lyricism.

Year of production: 2009

 Michael Fent