ZEITFENSTER: Norman Behrendt

Norman Behrendt’s (b. 1981) project Exit is the first iteration of the new annual format Zeitfenster, which is dedicated to artistic projects from Berlin and explores various perspectives on the present era. Taking photography’s special relationship to time as its starting point, Zeitfenster asks how the present can be grasped and understood: between the camera’s ability to capture a fleeting moment and an image’s capacity to reveal, in retrospect, a hidden truth.

In his project, Behrendt examines a state between everyday routine and the possibility of an unforeseen event. Exit focuses on the 324 emergency exits of the Berlin subway system. Although they are normally closed and hardly noticed, Behrendt photographed them open, stripping them of their usual inconspicuousness. To this end, he mapped out the entire 156-kilometer-long subway system. He presents his photographs as diptychs and polyptychs that are complemented by lacquered color panels referring to the subway lines depicted. The changing perspectives open up unfamiliar views of familiar urban spaces and highlight the hidden infrastructure that was created for exceptional situations but is often overlooked in everyday life.