Amtszeichen
Benjamin Sauer’s project Amtszeichen (Official Signs) explores the world of German bureaucracy—its rigid structures, endless corridors and paper-filled offices. Through his images, he captures both the necessity and absurdity of administration, revealing the people behind the system and the clichés that define it: flickering lights, official stamps and labyrinthine rules.
Photography Benjamin Sauer
In my project „Official Signs“ („Amtszeichen“), created asa thesis at the Ostkreuz School of Photography, I focus on the Berlin administrative apparatus and the people working within. Those who operate behind the austere facades, waiting rooms and long corridors.
My series is a snapshot of German bureaucratic culture. The work itself is like a walk down long administrative hallways: one never knows what lies behind the next corner, the next door, or on the floor above, waiting to be discovered.
I am also interested in the invisible network of various administrative institutions that permeate our society like blood or nerve pathways. They provide fundamental functions for society and are often regarded merely as a (necessary) evil.
My series is a snapshot of German bureaucratic culture. The work itself is like a walk down long administrative hallways: one never knows what lies behind the next corner, the next door, or on the floor above, waiting to be discovered.
Benjamin Sauer
About Benjamin
Benjamin Sauer ( b. 1978, Waiblingen, Germany) spent much of his life in Baden-Württemberg. He completed his Abitur in Schwäbisch Hall and studied Communication Design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
He gained his first experiences in documentary artistic photography there in seminars, including those with Claudio Hils. Since his early youth, he has been engaged with photography. At the Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd, he created works on the life realities of young people in rural areas, as well as a project on artificial habitats of captive animals in zoos. He lives and works in Berlin.
To see more of Benjamin’s work, visit his website or follow him on Instagram.
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