Fake or real? “Icons” challenges the facts we take for certain

In their series “Icons”, Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger recreate some of the most famous photographs in recent history. The seamlessly perfect illusions are immediately broken by the invasion of the work process.

The Swiss-German photography duo works on their series since 2013 and it’s currently exhibited at the Westlicht in Vienna. From the burning twin towers to the first step on the moon, Cortis and Sonderegger built all these iconic scenes in their studio. The use of photoshop is limited to the bare minimum.

While it looks as if the photographers have just dropped their hot glue gun, the work on one of their recreations can take up to three months. They destroy the scenarios immediately after they have taken a photograph – luckily they collected all of their recent creations in the book “Double Take”.

In a world of “fake news”, Cortis and Sonderegger want to show how one can easily replicate these scenarios. They leave you wondering about the absolute truth through their seemingly staged photos of real events. Or are they real photos of staged events?

Check out the exhibition at Westlicht until the 21st of October.