Once Upon A Time, series

“Retro as recourse to past aesthetics has always existed – the Renaissance, Historicism and Postmodernism were all retro-movements on a large scale. Today, we are once again experiencing such a trend towards creative remembering, also in the field of photography.” Andreas Müller-Pohle, European Photography

Julia Murakami “VIM and Blinkie”, 2014 from the series “Once Upon A Time”Julia Murakami “VIM and Blinkie”, 2014 from the series “Once Upon A Time”
Julia Murakami “Untitled”, from the series “Once Upon A Time”Julia Murakami “Untitled”, from the series “Once Upon A Time”
“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then”, 2013 from the series “Once Upon A Time”“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then”, 2013 from the series “Once Upon A Time”
Julia Murakami,“I’m not supposed to speak to strangers, but we’ve met before”, 2011 from the series: “Once Upon A Time”Julia Murakami,“I’m not supposed to speak to strangers, but we’ve met before”, 2011 from the series: “Once Upon A Time”
Julia Murakami, “Helga and Hildegard”, 2013 from the series “Once Upon A Time”Julia Murakami, “Helga and Hildegard”, 2013 from the series “Once Upon A Time”
“Actaeon”, 2014 by Julia Murakami“Actaeon”, 2014 by Julia Murakami

Once Upon A Time, retro photography series, 2011–2015

In these images, a series of collage selfportraits, I strive to evoke the familiar, with a simultaneous feeling of dream and irritation as a kind of subtextual glue.
Here, comfort both sacrifices itself to and blends itself with discomfort, creating a fairy-talesque harmony that bears the uncomfortable logic of the somnambulant landscape. I consciously use retro imagery to encourage reference to an anxiety-neutral zone, only to then immediately disturb it with elements that are nonetheless an integral part of the whole. The frontier between yesterdays we know and days imagined interweave with a subtle yet engaging force.

Limited editions available as

  • photo print under acrylic glass mounted on Alu-dibond, 50 x 70 cm, Edition of 3 (+ 1 AP), signed, dated and numbered on the back
  • pigment prints on Hahnemühle, 17 x 24.5 cm
    Edition of 10 (+ 2 AP), signed, dated and numbered on the front