Abdulhamid Kircher – Rotting from Within

Kircher explores identity, patriarchy, trauma and reconciliation in a diaristic project between Berlin and Turkey. Rotting from Within refers to a feeling described by Abdulhamid Kircher upon the unearthing of his father’s history: the discovery of the generational trauma within the patriarchs of his family and the subsequent task of uncovering the artist’s self amongst the things passed down. Beginning at the age of seventeen with the reacquaintance of his estranged father, recently released from incarceration for selling drugs and attempted murder, Kircher’s self-led journey into photography coincided with a reflection on his past. Born in Berlin and fleeing to the USA at a young age, the camera provided an entry point for intimacy and familiarity with his father and his Turkish culture and heritage while fostering a deep relationship with the photographic medium and its possibilities. Rotting from Within weaves a deeply personal, autobiographical thread with photographic vigour and candidness as we penetrate deeper into the psychological questions of identity, the glorification of violence, the myths of masculinity and the veil through which photography provides a mechanism to cope and understand the world. Kircher’s threaded visual voice speaks at the intersection of an internal monologue and a nuanced approach to documentary; through complex assemblages of portraiture, observation, archival documents, diaries and more, Rotting from Within contains visual webs of association within which Kircher captures the tension between speculation and reality, the inherent unknowability of even those closest at hand, and how we do not get to choose the life into which we are born. Abdulhamid Kircher (b. 1996) is an artist from Queens, New York. He was born in Berlin to German and Turkish parents, and immigrated with his mother to the United States at the age of eight. His work is a living archive of place and people, as it is also a dedication to the language of photography, the mechanics and aesthetic possibilities of the form. He received his BA in Culture and Media from The New School in 2018 and his MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California San Diego in 2022. Abdul currently lives and works between Berlin, Germany and Los Angeles, California. Two limited edition prints also available, Edition of 10 Signed copies will be shipped from our warehouse in the Netherlands only. 224 pages, 210 × 290 mm, 333 plates Section-sewn debossed OTA-bound silkscreened softcover with a text by the artist and Zoe Bullock Edited by Sarah Chaplin Espenon at Loose Joints, Abdulhamid Kircher & Zoe Bullock Designed & Published by Loose Joints LJ200, June 2024 978-1-912719-51-8 Prizes: Winner of Un/Fund Award 2023 Nominated for First Photobook, Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards 2024 Press: GQ Middle East AnOther Magazine Juxtapoz Magazine Observer New Review DoBeDo Monopol Magazine Ben Smith Photo The Guardian Events: Solo exhibition of Rotting from Within , carlier | gebauer Berlin, 29 June – 31 August 2024 Los Angeles launch Thursday 29 August 6–8pm, Des Pair Books Abdulhamid Kircher in conversation with Lewis Chaplin, ICP Photobookfest, 07 September 2024, followed by a signing New York launch Thursday 12 September 6–9pm, Dashwood Books Signing and Talk at Paris Photo & Offprint 2024