Lenzer, Manfred
Biography:
Manfred Lenzer was born in Cologne in 1955. From 1975 to 1978, he studied Photo Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. Since then, he has been professionally involved in photography on two tracks: on the one hand, he was head of the forensic photo technology department at the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office for a long time, and on the other hand, he is a photo artist. He also imparts his knowledge as a course instructor for photographic techniques and the art of seeing. He lives and works in southern Bavaria.
Manfred Lenzer is close to the philosophical view that images in art should not depict something or represent it skilfully – for example, a fingerprint as in forensic inventory or a real plant that would be suitable as an image for an encyclopaedia illustration. Rather, in art, the image should only be itself, should only show itself as an aesthetic something and not have to represent something else in the world outside. His series “Completely Detached” therefore stands paradigmatically for his conception of art. It does not matter what object the picture was ever based on. The photo artist cuts the ribbon between the photographed object and the resulting work of art so that it can be viewed aesthetically completely independently of its origin. In the series “Reduced to a Maximum”, the pictorial elements of colour, form and light are played with in such a way that reduced landscapes and still lifes are created, torn from their original context and given a new meaning. Even if at first glance the series “Transient Beauties” takes plants as its photographic starting point, the focus is solely on the theme of “sublimity in the transient”: they have left the idea of a postcard far behind.In realising his pictorial views, the artist refrains from photomontages or alienation techniques. All picture compositions are created when the picture is taken. He has them printed either on watercolour paper or aluminium. The latter emphasises the abstracting pictorial effect that always accompanies all his works subliminally.
Manfred Lenzer’s works have been repeatedly made accessible to the public through exhibitions since 2005. He has been represented internationally by LDXArtodrome Gallery since 2023.
