Visiting Artist: Tobias Walther

November 5, 2009
Artist Lecture
Richmond Center for Visual Arts, room 2008
5:30 p.m.

Born in Suhl, East Germany in 1979, Tobias Walther holds an M.F.A. from Washington State University (Pullman, Wash., 2009) and a Diploma in Photography and Media from University of Applied Science Bielefeld (Bielefeld, Germany, 2005). Travel was not an option in his native East Germany and that explains why viewers will see themes that address this in his work. When the wall came down, the walking shoes went on. Like small journeys, his photographs remind us to recall the simple joy of travel. It is clear that he will have a very different adult life than what he had as a child. One person, two countries, sometimes returning to a place that is geographically the same but not socially or politically the same. The term surreal comes to mind. To travel well is to live well. Through his work one can find the subtle expressions of a free will in meditation and practice. As a Berlin-based artist, Fulbright recipient, and freelance photographer, Tobias Walther has traveled to countries such as Russia, Turkey, Spain, UK, The Czech Republic and numerous places in Germany and the United States to make photographs as reactions to his surroundings. His photographs have been featured in German magazines and papers, such as Stern, Sueddeutsche Zeitung and BrandEins as well as in a book publication by Die Zeit & Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag. Additionally, he has worked as a photographic assistant for British artist Nick Waplington in London, England.

Walther currently teaches photography at the Department of Fine Arts, Washington State University (Pullman, Wash.).