A stroll around Messestadt is neither time-consuming nor strenuous. It reveals a network of streets and paths criss-crossing the flat ground once occupied by Munich airport, ground on which a wide variety of buildings, construction sites, green areas and empty spaces are combining to form what will eventually be a residential suburb with a population of 16,000. At present, some 1,600 inhabitants are experiencing the beginnings of Messestadt.

The wind seems to blow continually across this bare landscape, threading its way among construction sites and occupied residential buildings. In sunny weather, the light seems to bring a whiff of the South to this still largely undeveloped expanse of land, while on cloudy days it appears cool and clear. Throughout Messestadt children can be seen playing, in special playgrounds or in excavated areas that they themselves have turned into playgrounds. Life is taking root in this young suburb, against what can only be described as a surreal background of cranes, heaps of earth and unfinished buildings. Everything is marked by an almost tangible sense of a new beginning.

'Fotoprojekt Messestadt Riem' (Photo Project Messestadt Riem) was motivated by a desire to document this irreplaceable moment in the history of the area. It was hoped that a wide variety of images would add up to an overall view. This apparently simple idea led to a collaboration between kunstprojekte_riem and students at Munich's school of photography, the Staatliche Fachakademie für Fotodesign. Sixteen young photographers were given an opportunity to get to know the new suburb and devise ways of capturing their impressions in photographic terms.

A series of tours and talks in Messestadt acquainted the photographers with the historical background and with the concepts underlying the architectural and cultural planning of the district. Subsequently, discussions with residents about their reasons for moving to Messestadt provided crucial impulses in determining the issues each photographer addressed.

During the summer of 2000 each of the students documented his or her experiences of Messestadt. The resulting photographs ranged from portraits to images of the landscape and architecture, from records of temporary structures and construction sites to a purely formal preoccupation with existing buildings.

The visual language of the photographs was as varied as the personalities of their creators. Some images were in the nature of cool appraisals, focusing on the contradictions within Messestadt by presenting it as a whole and pointing to the conflicting demands of planning and regulations versus the needs of residents. Other photographs emphasised the vastness and the emptiness of Messestadt, raising the question as to how it was possible to live in a district created artificially in an open space with no connections to existing urban networks. Still other thought-provoke images showed absurd-looking combinations of structures, deliberately oppressive black-and-white enlargements of motifs and deserted open spaces. These contrasted with pieces of an intimate character, devoted to the residents and their children. Such photographs addressed life in Messestadt, often as a means of discovering residents' reasons for moving to the new district. Some of these images consisted, for example, of portraits taken in the sitter's domestic surroundings and accompanied by a written explanation of his or her motives. Others provided greater scope for interpretation on the part of the viewer - faces shown close up, almost surreal portraits of children, pictures of a multi-ethnic children's football team. A large number of photographs were devoted to temporary structures - visible signs of the rapid pace of change in Messestadt - and to effects of light.

Most of the works were produced in series. All of them tell a story, form part of a topographical documentation and provide a record of a new suburb and its inhabitants at a particular moment in time. As such, the photographs acquire ever greater importance with each and every change in Messestadt. In five or ten years' time a stroll will still probably be the simplest way of getting to know the area. The results of last year's photography project will then offer evidence of the beginnings.

Summer 2000