Exhibition at Buchhandlung Stauffacher in Bern

In March 2024, I will exhibit a larger selection of my street & portrait photographs with works from Paris, Venice and Norway at the renowned bookstore Stauffacher in Bern. I am pleased to share the space with Kathrin Martz. She is exhibiting her architectural photographs "Iconic buildings in New York" at the same time.

4. – 30. March 2024

Buchhandlung Stauffacher
Neuengasse 25-37
3011 Bern

Vernissage
Thursday, 7. March 2024, 18:00

Opening hours
Monday – Friday, 09:00 – 19:00
Saturday, 09:00 – 18:00

Landscapes at Kulturküche in Langenthal

From February 2024, my landscape photos will be on display at the Kulturküche in Langenthal. When I started taking photographs, it was mainly landscapes and nature that inspired me. A visit to the Kulturküche is worthwhile, both culinarily and culturally.

Kulturküche
Talstrasse 14
4900 Langenthal
www.kulturküche.ch

Opening hours
Thursday, 10:00 – 16:00
Friday, 10:00 – 22:00
Saturday, 10:00 – 16:00

Norway Photography Expedition 2023

From February 7 – 17, 2023, I was on a journey to Northern Norway to capture the nothern lights. The photos from Senja Island in Norway and Kiruna in Sweden are now on my blog:

Norway Photography Expedition – Part I
Norway Photography Expedition – Part II
Norway Photography Expedition – Part III

Photos published in a new book by Herausgeber Verlag

In collaboration with Herausgeber Verlag, my contribution to the current book about Langenthal, my place of residence. They are photos from the surrounding forest, where I like to walk since my childhood. With many more photos and text contributions from others. Now available in bookstores or directly here www.herausgeber.ch

Werkschau Bern 2022 exhibition

I am delighted to be taking part in this year's edition of the «Werkschau Bern» exhibition.

www.werkschau-bern.ch

Kornhausforum
Kornhausplatz 18
3001 Bern

Opening hours
Thursday, 10.11.2022, 17:00 – 21:00 (Vernissage public)
Friday, 11.11.2022, 12:00 – 21:00
Saturday, 12.11.2022, 11:00 – 17:00
Sunday, 13.11.2022, 11:00 – 17:00

Photos published in the magazine «active & live»

Pictures of my documentary about the Luggli organic farm used for an article published in the September issue of the magazine «active & live», 2022. Photos © Patrik Kummer

New exhibition 28. Mai – 18. June 2022

I am excited to be a part of this group exhibition with four other, very talented photographers. Images of my streetphotography and portrait work will be on display.

28. Mai – 18. June 2022

Foto Lang AG
Schulhausstrasse 2
4900 Langenthal

Opening hours
Thursday – Friday, 18:00 – 21:00
Saturday, 09:00 – 14:00

Vernissage
Saturday, 28. Mai 2022, 13:30 – 18:00
Finissage
Saturday, 18. June 2022, 13:30 – 18:00

KATHARSIS exhibition

During lockdown in spring 2020, Patrik Kummer used the time to reflect on the world and himself and to consciously perceive his surroundings differently with his camera. The result is an essay and a photo series beyond the constraints of everyday life.

21.11.2021 – 19.12.2021

Vernissage
Sunday, 21.11.2021, 13:00 – 17:00
Finissage
Sunday, 19.12.2021, 13:00 – 17:00

Exhibition at GALERIE GOLD SCHMIEDE FLÜCK, Mühleweg 12, 4900 Langenthal
www.goldschmiede-flueck.ch

Opening hours
Tuesday – Friday, 10:00 – 12:00 / 14:00 – 18:00
Saturday, 10:00 – 16:00
Sunday, 13:00 – 17:00 (21.11., 12.12., 19.12.)

Life in Color exhibition at Buchzeichen in Langenthal

Life is not only black and white, even though if I prefer to capture it that way. In my work, I also like to record moments in all their facets on color film. In this exhibition, I will show a collection of such photos.

18.10.2021 – 13.11.2021

Buchzeichen
Marktgasse 27
4900 Langenthal
www.buch-zeichen.ch

Opening hours:
Monday, 13:30 – 18:30
Tuesday – Friday, 09:00 – 12:00, 13:30 – 18:30
Saturday, 09:00 – 16:00

Simon Lüdi - A Portrait exhibition

In summer 2019, a chance encounter resulted in a very personal portrait: photographer Patrik Kummer took a portrait of Simon Lüdi from Langenthal in his home. These pictures, all taken by analogue hand, now find their exhibition space for the first time in the «Buchzeichen» bookstore.

05.10.2020 – 25.10.2020

Buchzeichen
Marktgasse 27
4900 Langenthal
www.buch-zeichen.ch

Opening hours
Monday, 13:30 – 18:30
Tuesday – Friday, 09:00 – 12:00, 13:30 – 18:30
Saturday, 09:00 – 16:00

KATHARSIS - a photographic series of self-reflection

During lockdown, I had the chance to go out and taking pictures without any commitments. I just walked around my hood in the evening and talked to my girlfriend about the crisis, where we stand in our lives and what we want to achieve. We discovered new places and I took pictures. Sometimes, when the light was fading, she helped me out with a flashlight so my camera was able to focus.

Katharsis (Spring 2020)
Text and photos ©Patrik Kummer

"Things fall apart. The centre cannot hold" - William Butler Yeats

I would be lying if I said this was my first attempt at finding myself again. "Finding myself again" in a world that is so complex and seems stranger every day. In a society where you are torn like a buoy in a storm between the demands of your peers, superiors and clients. In a time in which substance, content and depth are obscured by superficial lightness and repression. In which one's own identity fades into the background in the face of over-offers and endless possibilities.

Who can be blamed, since distraction for survival has become the norm in today's world. Be it because of the inconceivable atrocities reported non-stop in the media or the petty immersion in electronic surrogate societies. The monotonous staring at the small screens.

Me too, I'm a part of this substitute society. This text is published in such a society. Where else can you do something like this today? You have to do it where most people meet. That is no longer the big square in the centre of the village or town where you live.

What is catharsis? The "release" of psychological conflicts and inner tensions through emotional acting out. For me, it's getting rid of the inner self's turmoil caused by the external. The constant question of what is right. The omnipresent fear of doing something wrong or losing something through an action. A well-founded fear in today's world, which only seems to exist from one day to the next and creates almost insurmountable challenges in daily life at the drop of a hat, suddenly turning family, friends and work colleagues into existential enemies.

This need for self-liberation has existed for a long time and so has the realisation that things are not getting better. And when life had already almost turned into stoic "acceptance" and you could no longer recognise which city you were in because of all the tourists, the crisis came. What did it change for me?

I don't think anything. After it, it will probably go on for me as before.

But this crisis gave me a few weeks. Time to catch my breath. Time for evening walks where I could explore my surroundings in a new light. Without people, without noise. No commuting and constant "being driven", no being "bound" to any presence times, no fleeting photo assignments somewhere. Time to use the camera for substantial and deep motifs. To free myself from psychological conflicts and inner tensions with the act of photography as an emotional acting out and to give free rein to suppressed creativity. To focus and concentrate on the really important things. Time to let the small, daily pinpricks heal.

So in the end, the only question that remains is, how do I move on? Do I want to be free in my creativity and live out my emotions or drift on in stifled creativity in a shoreless sea of indecision? And society? Does it want to be a responsible and committed tenant of this small world, or a mindless consumer devourer?

When "going out into the fresh air" almost becomes a luxury, one is very happy to do so, isn't it?

Welcome to my new website

After a decade of being present on the internet with my work, I decided to create a new online portfolio. In my opinion, a website is something very personal. It doesn’t simply show the work of an artist on the web, it is more meant to be an experience for the audience, like if they would visit an exhibition about your work or they would step right into your workshop. For me, I want it to feel like someone opens a book with my photographs.

After a long time of research for a new solution, I’m glad now I found a new home for my work and ongoing projects. Please enjoy the ride and stay tuned for some new work.