Willi Filz was born in 1962 in Eupen, in the German-speaking community in Belgium. Trained in the hospitality business sector, he travelled between Switzerland, England, Africa and America to work in restaurants. At twenty-seven, he took a decisive turn and chose to become a photographer: he then attended photo-design courses at the Technical College Superior of Dortmund, Germany. Filz exhibited in galleries at the end of his studies in 1992. In 1996 he became an independent photographer and produced reports on architecture and series of portraits for Swiss and German magazines.
In his artistic work, a witness to the way in which we spontaneously and almost unconsciously classify each individual according to his appearance – Filz makes an attempt to free the men and women he photographs from such shackles. The artist makes a series of portraits of anonymous people in different regions of the world, following a similar process: after having chosen a place and adequate light, he approaches an unknown person whom he wishes to photograph and, when mutual trust is established, takes a portrait in the chosen place. It can take place in the everyday environment of the model: a cafe, a grocery store, etc.; but most often it is a public space like the street or a park, which Filz chooses as scenery. The photographer asks the subjects to adopt the most natural attitude possible, not to change their appearance, to keep the jewellery or attributes they wear, hoping to capture their most ‘authentic’ image.
This is the process that the artist used to make this series in 2001, in Syria. In colour and printed in medium format (85 x 70 cm), the photographs were taken from the front, sometimes full-length, sometimes half-length portraits. These were low-angle shots, so that the subject’s gaze seems to slide naturally towards the camera and, beyond, to the viewer. The background is vague, the figures are clear; the specificities of each individual are highlighted. The photographic act is totally assumed: rather than a confrontation, Filz offers an encounter with the subject.
No print is titled, just a summary indication in brackets, such as ‘Suffi’ or ‘Young woman with blue sweater’, serves as a purely practical reference and not as a contextual indication. If the specificities of each one are highlighted, the systematic repetition of the same shooting process and the absence of a personalised title unites the subjects without distinction. The series thus seems to constitute a global picture. By systematically accumulating the peculiarities of society, Filz succeeded in drawing from it a relatively stable and continuous image. The sense of identity that emerges from his work transcends political or cultural boundaries: the impression of humanity, alone, remains, as a reflex of species.
