Alma Haser - It's all about the Sausage (Es geht um die Wurst)
It’s the moment of truth!
This phrase is used during a moment when you need to give it everything you’ve got, whether it’s a competition, a game or a job interview. The use of the sausage relates to the historical importance of sausages in Germany. This phrase was first documented in Leipzig in 1881, but its origins are thought to date back much further.
From the series 'Everything has an end only a sausage has two'
This playful and surreal series explores the quirks of German idioms, their origins, and their often unexpected English translations. Born in the Black Forest to a German father and an English mother, Alma Haser grew up bilingual, an experience that sparked a fascination with language, wordplay, and the poetic absurdity of literal translations. With many of the works taking shape as three-dimensional pieces, Haser transforms idioms into visual interpretations, blending humour and history to invite viewers to see language in a new and imaginative way.
Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in SouthEast England. She is known for her complex and meticulously constructed photographs, which are influenced by her creativity and her background in fine art. Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind, often calling in question the nature of what is real.
Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using analogue techniques, such as inventive paper-folding, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her photographs into bewildering paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery.
Since having children her work has evolved and adapted to the time constraints she now faces. With that in mind, she uses techniques that are therapeutic and meditative, such as needle work and fabrics. The experience of Motherhood has become a daily source of inspiration for Alma and has incorporated itself into her practice.
Alma's most recent series ‘Everything has an End only The Sausage Has two is a playful and surreal series exploring the quirks of German idioms, their origins, and their often unexpected English translations. Alma grew up bilingual— an experience that sparked a fascination with language, wordplay, and the poetic absurdity of literal translations. Haser transforms idioms into visual interpretations, blending humour and history to invite viewers to see language in a new and imaginative way.
Alma is constantly rethinking photography, one of her most recent projects Unlearning AI, consisted of a series of distorted portraits made entirely of jigsaw pieces. Unlearning AI presents an analogue approach to Artificial Intelligence that distorts the image and highlights manipulation rather than masking these ‘imperfections’. This series exposes the flaws and construction of the digital image, to reveal an imposter. Using puzzles to create intriguing and complex photographs was first seen in Alma’s previous project Within 15 Minutes, a series delving into her fascination with identical twins, their genetics and how to distinguish them. Alma’s work often makes us question our sense of what is real, seeking to expose the pretend, creating images that make us question what we are seeing. In her past series Pseudo Alma explores what is real and what is manufactured, through using her unique paper collage layering and re-photographing techniques.
Alma has won many awards for her work, including Magenta Foundation's Bright Spark Award for her Cosmic Surgery series (also the basis of a successful self-published book project). Her piece The Ventriloquist won fourth prize for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. Alma also won the PDN Photo Annual Award for her Eureka Effect series. Her work has been exhibited worldwide.
It’s the moment of truth!
This phrase is used during a moment when you need to give it everything you’ve got, whether it’s a competition, a game or a job interview. The use of the sausage relates to the historical importance of sausages in Germany. This phrase was first documented in Leipzig in 1881, but its origins are thought to date back much further.
From the series 'Everything has an end only a sausage has two'
This playful and surreal series explores the quirks of German idioms, their origins, and their often unexpected English translations. Born in the Black Forest to a German father and an English mother, Alma Haser grew up bilingual, an experience that sparked a fascination with language, wordplay, and the poetic absurdity of literal translations. With many of the works taking shape as three-dimensional pieces, Haser transforms idioms into visual interpretations, blending humour and history to invite viewers to see language in a new and imaginative way.
Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in SouthEast England. She is known for her complex and meticulously constructed photographs, which are influenced by her creativity and her background in fine art. Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind, often calling in question the nature of what is real.
Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using analogue techniques, such as inventive paper-folding, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her photographs into bewildering paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery.
Since having children her work has evolved and adapted to the time constraints she now faces. With that in mind, she uses techniques that are therapeutic and meditative, such as needle work and fabrics. The experience of Motherhood has become a daily source of inspiration for Alma and has incorporated itself into her practice.
Alma's most recent series ‘Everything has an End only The Sausage Has two is a playful and surreal series exploring the quirks of German idioms, their origins, and their often unexpected English translations. Alma grew up bilingual— an experience that sparked a fascination with language, wordplay, and the poetic absurdity of literal translations. Haser transforms idioms into visual interpretations, blending humour and history to invite viewers to see language in a new and imaginative way.
Alma is constantly rethinking photography, one of her most recent projects Unlearning AI, consisted of a series of distorted portraits made entirely of jigsaw pieces. Unlearning AI presents an analogue approach to Artificial Intelligence that distorts the image and highlights manipulation rather than masking these ‘imperfections’. This series exposes the flaws and construction of the digital image, to reveal an imposter. Using puzzles to create intriguing and complex photographs was first seen in Alma’s previous project Within 15 Minutes, a series delving into her fascination with identical twins, their genetics and how to distinguish them. Alma’s work often makes us question our sense of what is real, seeking to expose the pretend, creating images that make us question what we are seeing. In her past series Pseudo Alma explores what is real and what is manufactured, through using her unique paper collage layering and re-photographing techniques.
Alma has won many awards for her work, including Magenta Foundation's Bright Spark Award for her Cosmic Surgery series (also the basis of a successful self-published book project). Her piece The Ventriloquist won fourth prize for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. Alma also won the PDN Photo Annual Award for her Eureka Effect series. Her work has been exhibited worldwide.