Siegfried Hansen: What Was He Thinking?

"My name is Siegfried Hansen. I am a German citizen living in Hamburg. In 2002 I started as an amateur photographer, especially in street photography. If I have time I take my camera and walk for hours on the streets. I am looking for the little absurdities of life. Trying to catch special moments, either funny things, graphical or even light and shadow situations. To see the energy and complexity of life on the street is for me a kind of meditation."


"This picture was made in 2003 in New York on a holiday trip, when I saw the angler at the peer. He caught the fish and released him from the hook and threw his fishing rod out again quickly. Meanwhile, the flounced fish was suffering from his pain. I like to watch a weird and surreal scene like this one. Two worlds in one picture: the angler ignoring the death fighting fish. For me it became a picture with contents extracted from the context."

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"This picture was made in Hamburg, 2005 at a place I have been at least hundred times before. But on this day when I took the photo, the scene was different. I saw the two swans and the two persons. Suddenly I saw the next swan coming along and the situation was completed. I took two photos. Afterward the man stood up and went away and the situation was completely different. This was one of those moments I never thought could happen, but real life is always full of surprises. So you have to be prepared for this kind of moment. I never leave my house without my camera."

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"Tokyo 2002 at a shopping mall. I noticed the surface and I was keen to catch the 3-D effect inspired by Escher. I went up to the first floor to take a shot, when I saw from above the father with his child. In the next moment another child was approaching the first child. This was the right moment to take a picture. Seconds later the mother came and went away with one of the children, so the scene was over."

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"Hamburg 2008. I saw the women standing at the corner with a tree in her hands. The first moment I saw this situation I wanted to take a picture because it's not often you can see someone walking on the street with a tree. So I started to walk behind her, when I suddenly saw the potted plant. The situation was completed. I believe instinct and curiosity are the foundation for street photography."

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"Tokyo 2002. I was visiting a temple and was monitoring a traditional wedding celebration. The woman was prepared for a picture by a photographer. The photographer got her ready by proofing her outfit. The woman was looking downward skeptically. So I saw her face in the mirror and this was the moment for me to take this picture. I like it if the observer has to look 2 or 3 times to realize the scene in the picture. I like to show two (or even more) different things in one picture at the same time."

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"Tokyo 2002. I was standing on a bridge. From above I saw the sign of the street when a person crossed the street. This was too busy for taking a picture. I was waiting for a better situation. Suddenly two persons crossed the street in different directions. The picture was ready. In connection, occurrences which have nothing to do with one another get suddenly a new meaning."

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"This picture was taken in Venice 2004. The scene was almost ready because on the left side of the picture the scene was completed. But the right side of the picture was empty which mean that I had to wait for another person to turn the corner. One person was not enough for me, so I had to wait for a two person constellation."

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More of Siegfried Hansen's work can be found here.