Klaus Thymann - Hybrids

Not content working only for high-profile brands and cutting edge magazines, award-winning Danish photographer Klaus Thymann decided to embark on a solo project documenting hybrid and separatist societies across the globe. Thymann was inspired to start the project after witnessing how trends in communication, such as the web, began to provide extremist societies with a different level of exposure and new ways to get together. From the Burning Man Festival to the Homeless World Cup, the project spans the globe providing a unique insight into these separatist groups. The project has been received with immediate success and has since been exhibited internationally; the work is currently on show at the Sevenstar Gallery in Berlin.

How would you define a hybrid? 

It’s a combination culture, they are all combination cultures, where two unlike things from society are combined, but often it’s more than that.

What drew you to the notion of photographing hybrids?

Basically, there are multiple reason for the Hybrids project: one reason is that it was my first photographic book, so I wanted to do something that was original, come in completely fresh and surprise people. It comes from noticing an emerging trend that I started to pick up on before 2000, when the Internet and communication meant that people with quite specific interests could popularise and publicise them in a greater way, people could find a fellowship. I found all of these things interesting on their own, but the connections between them that were not necessarily so obvious were also really interesting. The aim was to create a body of work that would be open to interpretation, where people could begin to explore and discover themselves through other people.

What was the most extreme thing that you witnessed? 

It’s difficult to think of just one. An example would be from the religious theme park. They don’t really allow press there, so I had to basically explain to them that I wanted to ‘spread the word’ and that I’d found Jesus again. I arrived wearing a T-shirt saying ‘I love Jesus’ and Birkenstock sandals. What was quite strange to witness was that they re-enact the crucifixion there, so they’ve actually got three Jesus’ working around the park, stunt Jesus, who gets crucified, another Jesus who sings, and then a back-up Jesus in case of emergency. At the crucifixion, a lot of people started crying, it was quite something, I think it was because a lot of people have emotions that are from a different register, but they come through when they see stuff like this.

Did you experience these societies as a participant or as a photographer?

My main objective was my work, to go in with an open mind and shoot the images with an open mind; to not be judgmental of what people are doing. I think it’s fantastic that people are doing all these different things.

The book was published in 2007; is there a difference in what a hybrid has become over the last two years? Do you think that the notion of a hybrid is becoming harder to find? 

It’s definitely easier to see them, there is an exposure level and everything has been accelerated a lot. The fact that TV is disappearing and everything is online means that things get dug out and revealed much quicker. There is a part of it where certain groups will try to remain unexposed, and this is how they will survive, and there are movements that will do anything for exposure and to get as many people as possible involved. It goes in two directions really, and certain things are so hardcore that people just won’t have a go, like for example, the bike jousting.

The tall bike jousting looks quite extreme what was your experience of it? 

I heard about it from a friend and thought it would be great to photograph, so I flew to New York to see what it was about. It is really special, it’s not an easy place to get to and not really publicised. You’ve got to be willing to just get there and get dirty. As soon as we arrived, my assistant got hit on the head with a tomato. There was no hostility though, it’s quite hardcore just in its nature: gladiators on bicycles.

An example of how hybrid societies today can become exposed and quite mainstream is the Burning Man Festival. You photographed it in 2003 and it has since become hugely popular. How do you think this has affected the nature of the festival?

I heard that there was one in Spain now. With Burning Man, there have always been a lot of parameters which are quite contradictory. People go there with all types of different motivations. It is one of the few opportunities in America to create a ‘free thinking’ society, like a micro society within society, but it has so many restrictions. Just the fact that you can’t spend any money there and it’s in America is one of the biggest contradictions. People go there and leave the next day, back to their start-up companies in San Francisco making a ton of money. In every society there is an underlying code of conduct, as with every belief that becomes a movement. That’s kinda the irony. These things are always highly regulated, that’s why people seek like-minded people, so that they don’t have to regulate themselves, they all exist within the same parameters.

What would you say is the most important thing that the world can learn from the existence of hybrid societies?

Tolerance is a common theme that runs through all of it, that was one of the reasons why I started it. It’s not about teaching, but motivating people to be tolerant. I’m fully aware that people aren’t tolerant and that they are never gonna be; that’s fine too. I don’t think anything is either entirely positive or negative, for me it’s a fascination and very interesting if people express themselves in any given way – whether it’s verbal or art or writing, I think deep down it’s a positive thing to express yourself, provided the means of expression isn’t deliberately harming anyone else.