Rented Rooms
2008
Torben Höke pushes open the doors of his accommodations for us. He finds still lifes in things that almost everybody passes without noticing. He manages to create pictures at places that might be regarded as unexplainable to parents. What is supposed to be magical about cold tiled floors and peeling paint? The photographer, as if having taken a few Egglestons too many, shows enchanting portraits of brief encounters with receptionists, foreigners, and Indian salesmen. These are quiet pictures, full of melancholy, like the songs of the fragile pop-heroes of many 90s Britpop bands. I was supposed to write about the pictures, but that is not possible, as they are so authentic and direct that every categorization inevitably takes their magic away. And can there be a bigger compliment than feeling the burning urge to leave all comfort behind and wanting to head off again with no credit cards and only black market rupees in the money belt? (Peter Bialobrzeski; Hamburg, October 2008)
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