Austrian photographer Andreas Franke combines his two passions for the camera and scuba diving in his images of a ghostly sinking world. His digital montages combine the artist’s own photographs of sunken ships with carefully orchestrated sets, built above the surface at his studio. In his statement, Franke writes, “With my photographs of sunken shipwrecks, I want to pull the spectators into unreal and strange worlds. Mystified scenes of the past play within a fictional space. Dreamworlds you can get lost in or you can identify with. This creates a new and unexpected atmosphere. This work shows a lot of myself, since I am always on the lookout for stunning themes to create new images never seen before.” Franke’s work takes something with a past life and breathes life back into it, not only in a conceptual, but literal sense. His recent exhibit, titled “Life Below the Surface” was installed 100 feet below sea level at the site of the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the Florida keys. With famous wrecks like the Vandenberg as their backdrop, Franke’s subjects from 50s sailors to 18th century courtesans go about their every day lives. The dimension of the image does not stop there however. Following his exhibition in the keys, Franke’s prints resurfaced stained and discolored by sea water, thus becoming a part of the history that inspired them. Take a look at more images of Franke’s “A Sinking World” below.
