Esther Teichmann uses mixed media, including photographs, painting, poetry, music and sculpture to tell stories. Jessica Brier says ‘Esther Teichmann calls for a new way to look at photographs, not as mirrors of, or windows into the world, but as portals between the personal and universal, reality and the supernatural and photography and other mediums. Through the layering of memory, desire, fear, fiction and fantasy, Teichmann uses and extends the photographic medium as a passage between realms of experience and artistic creation. Her work exploits the tension between photography’s relationship to reality and a sense of otherworldly power. For Teichmann, this complex, even troubled relationship with the medium yields a passionate foray into others’ (Brier, 2014). Brier’s article talks about an alternate view of photographs, not as either windows or mirrors but as portals or wormholes that can transport us from place to place.  She discusses Teichmann’s use of photography as a way of retelling myths that shed some light on her personal emotions, seen though a haze of fantasy and suggestion.

Teichmann images are colourful and soft, with a strong Pre-Raphaelite feeling. They are mysterious and float in a world of her imagining. Her work is personal but could relate to anyone. She uses it to explain all the areas that impact on human life. Teichmann is using photography to talk about things that are not easily visualised – imaginary things and places, how your memories of childhood relate to the past, the present and the future. Where you are and where you were – all in one image.

References:

Brier, J. (2014). Esther Teichmann: The Photograph as a Portal. [online] Daylight.co. Available at: https://stories.daylight.co/DD1312 [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].

Teichmann, E. (2019). [online] Estherteichmann.com. Available at: http://www.estherteichmann.com/work [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].

‌