Cortis & Sonderegger

Cortis & Sonderegger is a collaborative team of two Swiss artists, Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger. They are best known for their photographs of their physical recreations of famous photographs.[1][2]

Life

Cortis was born in 1978 in Aachen, Switzerland. Sonderegger was born in 1980 in Bülach, Switzerland. Since 2001 they have lived and worked in Zurich, Switzerland. Their collaboration began in 2005 while they were students at the Zurich University of the Arts.[3][4]

Work

Sam Shere photograph of the Hindenburg disaster, used as a source by Cortis & Sonderegger

The duo are best known for their physical representations of famous photographs, titled Icons and begun in 2012. The recreations involve the use of precision model-making to create three-dimensional miniature dioramas of the scene in the original photograph. Once the diorama is built, the final product is a photograph of the overall scene, often including some of the tools and materials used in its making.[2]

Andreas Gursky's Rhein, the most expensive photograph ever sold, was the first subject of their recreations.[3][5]

Other subjects of their recreations include:

• the 1937 photography of the Hindenberg disaster by Sam Shere,[6]
• Charles Levy's 1945 photograph of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb detonation, titled Making of 208-N-43888 by Charles Levy, 19452013,[7][8]
• the 1934 photograph of the Loch Ness Monster, titled Making of “Nessie” (by Marmaduke Wetherell, 1934)[9]
• the 1989 "Tank Man" photograph of a man obstructing a tank during the Tiananmen square crackdown,[6][10] and
• Edwin Aldrin's photograph of man's first step on the moon.[11][10]

Collections

• Their work Making of Tiananmen (by Stuart Franklin, 1989) is included in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.[12]
• Making of 'AS11-40-5878' (by Edwin Aldrin, 1969) is included in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.[13]

Awards

• 2015/2016 Vevey International Photography Award : Broncolor Prize[14]

References

1. Slobig, Zachary (9 March 2015). "History's Most Iconic Photos, Recreated in Miniature". Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019 – via www.wired.com.
2. Thaddeus-Johns, Josie (19 March 2019). "Think You Know This Photograph? Take Another Look". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
3. "ICONS – Works by Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger". British Journal of Photography. 31 March 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
4. "Exhibition Double Take - artist, news & exhibitions - photography-now.com". photography-now.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
5. Padtberg, Carola (20 March 2019). "Verfremdete Ikonen der Fotografie: Alles Fake!". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019 – via Spiegel Online.
6. McKenzie, Sheena (27 March 2015). "History's famous photos made into mini models". CNN Style. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
7. "War and fleece: DIY recreations of iconic photographs – in pictures". 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2019-03-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Conway, Richard. "See World Famous Photographs Recreated in a Studio". Time. Archived from the original on 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
10. Tempelman, Olaf (23 July 2018). "Jojakim Cortis en Adrian Sonderegger maken kunstwerken van iconische nieuwsfoto's". de Volkskrant.
11. Spaces, Malaika Byng, The (25 May 2017). "Art duo create 3D miniatures of historic events". CNN Style. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
12. "Museum of Contemporary Photography". www.mocp.org.
13. "Making of 'AS11-40-5878' (by Edwin Aldrin, 1969) - The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston". www.mfah.org.
14. "Winner of the "Prix Internationale de la Lumière" in Vevey – Project: Icons". broncolor News. 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.