Bittersweet - Christopher Thomas

'Bittersweet' addresses two opposing, contradictory terms. When looking at the pictures, however, it becomes clear that the pair of opposites seems very suitable for expressing the unspeakable.

Thomas created the photographs in the decades-long project 'Bittersweet', across various countries and continents. Thus, he shows the viewer symbols that remind him of childhood and a sense of happiness: merry-go-rounds, ice cream cones, bubble gum machines, circus tents, fairs, cotton candy, wonder bags, roller skates, ferris wheels, tricycles, and more. These symbols are embedded in rural and urban landscapes. In most of the images, people are non-existent. We immediately think of our lost childhood, of spontaneity and immediacy. However, behind all the sometimes superficially seductive images lurks the fear of the loss of bliss and the undeniable power of transience.

Thomas' pictorial worlds thematise decay and finitude. Thomas is preoccupied with places where something was and is no longer so, where something has changed. Thomas' 'Bittersweet' recordings span the potential joy of life and the melancholy sense of loss.