Familia, Katharina Mayer’s extensive body of work of family photographs portraying people from many countries and different social contexts, has been growing since 2000. Whether an artist, refugee, teacher or entrepreneur family, every single photograph taken in a domestic environment, with small scenic interventions, provides an insight into a personal biography.
Though each family represents a very special way of life, the family portrait raises general questions - about values, religious affiliation, questions about community, conflict, responsibility, love and tolerance. To some extent, the generations-long family history is visible, but sometimes it can only be guessed or even deliberately cut out. The remake - the repetition of a family portrait after a few years - currently plays a particular part in Katharina Mayer’s work.