Explore the exhibition of photographs by Michel Medinger, winner of the Luxembourg Photography Award 2024. Two photographic series are showcased at Merl Park, providing a capivating glimpse into his artistic prowess.

         —     About the exhibition

At Merl Park, visitors can enjoy two of his photographic series: “Petrol Pumps” and “Sports Objects”, the latter reflecting Michel Medinger’s lifelong passion for sports; in his youth, he took part in the track and field competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. This series is very topical in light of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Petrol Pumps

Abandoned petrol pumps, photographed in the 1980s and 1990s, are the focus of this photo series by Michel Medinger. Although these old petrol pumps are gradually disappearing, they can still occasionally be found in villages across Luxembourg and the Greater Region. Despite their outdated appearance, they blend into modern environments. With his keen eye, Michel Medinger captures this contrast in a way that feels harmonious, evoking a sense of nostalgia in viewers.

Sports Objects

The “Sports Objects” series, which comprises more recent work from the 2010s, showcases Michel Medinger’s dual passion for sports and photography. He emphasises the sculptural nature of the sports objects through strategic lighting, revealing their traces of wear and tear, and pinpointing the stories they hold. Many items he photographed belonged to professional athletes, such as Charly Gaul’s saddle and Josy Barthel’s track spikes. Just like in his series “Having fun” (“S’amuser”), these pieces show how much the artist enjoys playing with compositions and humanising the objects of his daily life, while at the same time making allusions to art history.

A second exhibition by Michel Medinger will be on show at the same time in the gardens of the Hospice Civil de Hamm in Luxembourg City.

         —     About Michel Medinger

Michel Medinger, the Luxembourg photographer, was born in Neudorf (Luxembourg City) in 1941. He is celebrated for his many photographic series, particularly his black and white still life series. As a self-taught photographer and avid collector of objects, he has experimented with a variety of photographic techniques, including black and white photography, cibachrome, and polaroids. By combining these techniques with his passion for painting – which was the first art form he fell in love with – Michel Medinger has developed a unique style of staging objects from his collection in the form of still lives, reminiscent of the curiosity cabinets from the 16th century.

The artist infuses his works with a subtle sense of humour; tackling themes such as the ephemeral, vanity, human fragility, and eroticism. He draws inspiration from the iconography of 17th-century Dutch Golden Age paintings, notably by Rembrandt van Rijn and Frans Hals.

Michel Medinger has exhibited his photographs all over the world, from Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Poland, and the United States to Japan and China.

From 1 July to 29 September 2024, a major exhibition dedicated to his oeuvre and curated by Sylvie Meunier is being put on by Lët’z Arles at the Chapelle de la Charité, as part of the famous “Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles” festival. A new book is being published to mark this occasion.