With his long-term photo project, Alex Dietrich pays tribute to what is arguably the most beautiful time of the year – summer.
“L’estate is an Italian word for “summer”. On the one hand, the project represents my discovery of Italy. Because of my family in France, I was and remain very much a Francophile. But some time ago, I went quite spontaneously on two short, consecutive trips with friends to northern Italy, and somehow I was hooked. Since then, I have been there frequently, and I love it – especially by the sea. On the other hand, I am amazed by projects such as La lunga strada di sabbia by Pasolini & Paolo di Paolo, who drove by car all over the “boot”. I also love Claude Nori’s book, Un été italien, and photos by Luigi Ghirri. And, most importantly, I was pushed by my girlfriend, Leonie Novotny, with whom I carried out this project. She will accompany the photos with texts, and I’ll accompany her texts with photos.

In summer I quite simply love to be outside, so I have plenty of experiences. Every year, I even discover new areas in Vienna that I had never noticed before. I meet other people who show me new things, or during the colder months, I’m inspired with ideas that I collect together and that I want to realize in summer. And there is a certain time pressure – real summer in Vienna doesn’t last so long, especially if you don’t always have time, or when there’s a week with only rain predicted. This means that the days for taking pictures just melt away. Something “must” come out of the few days, which he also understands as social documentary photography.

When I get to a new place, I try to hold back somewhat with the photographing, because everything still appears so exciting and interesting. The best photos mostly come about after I’ve got to know the surroundings, and then I know what is really interesting for me. I always have the camera with me: I either see a situation that I want to capture immediately, or I see a place or a person – but it feels as though something is missing somehow. Then I wait and hope that the appropriate moment will come along. If that doesn’t happen, I return to the place until I can take the photo that I’d envisioned.

I love take black &White photography, that was something that crystallized almost fifteen years ago, when I was studying. Personally, I like it more. Not only the look, but the process as well. I can develop black and white film myself without great effort, and printing them in the darkroom is also easier. I rarely try working with color film, and I rarely like the results. However, I don’t categorically reject the idea that there could be a project where I would use color.

I wish summer was timeless, meaning that it would always be summer. Then again, if that were the case it would no longer be so special. I think that’s exactly what makes summer seem so timeless to me. The specialness of it. A special feeling. Memories of summer holidays as a child. Maybe I can manage to evoke a bit of the feeling you get, when you see a photo taken during a summer holiday 30 years ago. Timeless memories. If I even manage to do that to a small degree, then I’m happy.” (Alex Dietrich interview for Leica)