Timeless Knot - TIME TRAVEL

Historical photographs of the Salzkammergut are reinterpreted by contemporary photo artists – between lived tradition and cliché.

Group show: Zeitreise – Time Travel .~ European Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024

TIMELESS KNOT' with Historical Photographer : MICHAEL MOSER 

“His first voyage full of difficulties. When I imagined the waves the boy crossed, an ukiyoe by Katsushika Hokusai came to my mind. I felt that the splashing waves and their momentum were a perfect expression of the young energy and passion with which he decided to leave for a foreign land and the drastic changes of the Meiji era he spent in Japan. ‘Japan Blue and the Great Wave’ that became a symbolic image of his young spirit. The waves of color across the blue are a story born of the link between his gaze as he took these photographs and my timeless heart. In his gentle, tender gaze as he aged, I felt a deep prayer for the people reflected in these historical photographs. Imagining the beautiful landscapes of Japan and Austria at that time, and the future of the people in the photographs from actual episodes, I created a new story to be close to them.” 

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About Michael Moser

"In 1867, at the age of 14, Michael Moser, son of a miner and woodcarver, was taken to Vienna as an apprentice by Viennese photographer Wilhelm Burger. In 1868 the young boy accompanied Burger on the imperial and royal mission to East Asia, traveling via Cape Town, Java, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon and Hong Kong as far as Yokohama. Moser, constantly sea-sick, decided to stay in Japan in 1869, working first in a dockland pub and then as a photographer for “Mr. Black”, publisher of the Japan Gazette / Far East. He learned to speak and write perfect Japanese and accompanied the Japanese delegation to the World Expo in Vienna in 1873 as an interpreter. On his return Moser was employed by the Japanese government as a photographer and moved to Tokyo. In 1876 he travelled as an interpreter with the Japanese delegation to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, fell ill and decided in 1877 to return to Altaussee. There he opened a successful photo studio, first in Altaussee, later in Bad Aussee. In 1889 he married Franziska Frühwirth, and a year later their only son Philipp was born. Moser was awarded the Silver State Prize for his photographic work. He is recognized as one of the most important photographers of Japan’s Meiji epoch." Text by Yvonne Oswald, Column, EU Japan Fest, 2025.