The latest work by Melanie Hüebner looks at sacred spaces in Berlin where she is making pictures of different temples, churches and mosques and recording sound during ceremonies. The focus of the project is on the transcendental and multicultural face of Berlin‘s urban society and its religious beliefs. The project is a collaboration with the Berlin Forum of Religions, to visually and acoustically depict a variety of sacred interior spaces. Berlin‘s intention is to follow a religious-philosophical idea of tolerance which currently manifests itself in the coexistence of around 250 valued religious and ideological communities. In order to promote this and to provide an impetus for other urban societies, the project seeks to create an inner-city, as well as international dialogue, between cultural institutions and religious communities.
The photographs are produced from the central perspective of the interior spaces and use existing light sources. In doing so, the space is depicted in its natural state. People or groups do not appear in the images and sound recordings of prayers or chanting will accompany the photographs, to heighten the personal experience for the viewer.
Melanie Hüebner is a photographer based in Berlin. She originally studied at the Folkwang University of Arts around which time she worked intensively on analogue techniques within a black and white lab. In 2015 she completed her diploma at the Folkwanghochschule. She has worked on numerous projects that have been exhibited internationally, and her work The 12th house was seen at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Gera, at the Wiesbadener Fototage and Sommersethouse in London.