Finn Leslie-Goldstraw

Fernverkehr

May 17th – June 3rd, 2023

Fernverkehr, a German word, translates to long-distance traffic or long-distance travel and, for me, represents many journeys. It represents my journey with art, with engaging in a world that is dictated by journeys of time, exertion, self-belief, and acceptance. Within photography, it represents my self-imposed journey to represent the ineffable aesthetic that grows organically within our dirty and obscure urban landscapes. Finally, it represents a call for spontaneous travel after years of covid lockdowns and limitations. This call to travel also offered an opportunity to see the world as an outsider, a perspective that is usually associated with feelings of rejection, regret, or guilt, but to use it to see the world as a clear reflection of the light that touches it.

Taken throughout Germany and Europe in 2022, these photographs offer moments of transcendence. When a place or moment exists organically and independently. They explore our experience of finding the surreal within an urban jungle or rural scene and represent some of the magic of exploration, discovery, and fear.

Throughout my travel I began collecting postcards and writing poetry along my journey. Collecting the postcards was a way to link my long-distance journey with the millions of others who have experienced these shared moments of elation and anxiety. The postcard also exists as a physical form of the idyllic and often false reflection of travel. The Inclusion of handwritten poetry on the back allowed a more gentle, intimate, and honest depiction of events to contrast the often saturated and dreamlike postcards. My photography, postcards and poetry in combination represented not only a physical tracing of my journey but an emotional and artistic tracing as well.