Wolfgang Tillmans: Migration

Left A picture taken from Tillmans book Concorde Right The man himself

Before we start, Wolfgang Tillmans is one of my favourite photographers/artists full stop. Although he produces really engaging pieces that delve into the abstract, it is his more contemparary observational photgraphic work that interests me, as he exploratively interacts and comments on society, politics, travel and culture, to name just a few areas that have entered his focus.

From the standpoint of being a German born artist currently living and working in London (UK), and having travelled the World extensively, his view on migration is one that I find of particular interest. My travel experiences are not quite so far reaching to date, but having spent four months away from home last year, I can relate to his opinion, that being:

'One aspect I like about being a migrant is that you can escape the things that you don't like about your home country. At the same time, you can detach yourself from the negative characteristics of your host country as they don't really touch you as deeply. I don't think most migrants are aware of that psychology coming into play before they actually take the step. It's not a motivation - well, for me it wasn't - but it can turn out to have a powerful and very liberating effect.'

As I am about to embark on my first year of being a working holiday migrant to Canada, I will bear this in mind when watching the news or when reading the paper. Detachment must be one of the main ways of coping when adjusting to living in a new country, and you view a country in a fresh way that a home citizen may not. With that said, I wonder at what point it will be that issues within the host country then become personal, evoking reaction and care. A year? Two years? Perhaps never?