Petra Rainer

Time seems to stand still in the old bakery, at the candy shop or at the shoe-maker. The photo-serie En Détail lead me to viennese coal merchants, hatmakers, butchers and even to a copper engraver. Most of the shops were founded during the first half of the 20th century. Today many of the shop owner´s are already in retirement age – but they continue to open their shops for costumers, who sometimes only stop by for a little chat.

Every time when I visited one of these fascinating places I had an experience of discovering vanishing times, stories, names and rooms. I wanted to preserve what I found and started to listen carefully to get an idea of this places and to understand what they mean to the shop-owners. It is often their purpose in life and living space.

I started then to photograph and within 5 years I have been into 100 shops and got to know the people. The most interesting in photography for me is that this medium is a point of contact. It makes me living very much in the presence and I try to absorb what time brings at that moment. Time is the most important factor. Without time limit I am at a place and everything what happens wait for me.

Petra Rainer – Curriculum Vitae, Work, Exhibitions & Publications

1973              born in Saalfelden/Salzburg/Austria, grown up in Zell am See

1992-94            college for photography in vienna

1994-96            studies of ethnology, sociology and history of art on university of vienna

2001            graphic-design course at GBV in vienna

2002           scholarship for visual art in Vilnius/Lithuania

Work:

-     Factoryworkers in Sénec/Slovakia

-     Fishermen in France, Andalusia, Scottland and Lithuania

-     En Détail – Old Viennese Stores

-     Mountain Farmers in Salzburg

-     Public Baths in Vienna

-     Landler in Rumania

• Lithuania in June 2002
• The Fountain Market in Vienna
• Gardenpeople in Austria
• Poland in August 2004
• Portraits of 100 year old people

Exhibitions:

1998              Mountain Farmers in Vogtturm/Zell am See/Salzburg

1999              En Détail – Old Viennese Stores in Fotofoyer Galileigasse/Vienna

1999              Mountain Farmers in Bildungshaus Schloß Krastowitz/Klagenfurt/Carinthia

2000               Mountain Farmers in Caritas-Fotogalerie/Constance/Germany

2002En Détail – Old Viennese Stores in WestLightGallery/Vienna

2003(L) 2002 – Photographies from Lithuania in Gallery Traklhaus/Salzburg

2003En Détail – Old Viennese Stores, Milliner Susi & Dairywoman Rosa

 in Historic Museum/Vienna

• My daughters in gallery Chobot/Vienna

Publications: Books

08/2002            En Détail – Old Viennese Stores by Holzhausen/Vienna

09/2003            The Fountain Market in Vienna by Holzhausen/Vienna

03/2005             Gardenpeople in Austria by Residenz /Salzburg