Oldies but Goldies — Portfolio

Images that take growing older seriously — and celebrate it at the same time. This gallery will keep growing; it opens with a collaboration that is especially close to my heart.

For AWOcura Duisburg's »Oldies but Goldies« campaign we restaged Hollywood classics — with a lifetime of experience in the leading roles. Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain, Reflections in Time: the idea came from Bettina Vootz, Andrea Hemmers sourced the costumes, Petra Kleine Kruse held it all together, and I photographed and designed the posters.

Since then the campaign has grown into a broader series on life experience in the leading role — from birthday portraits by the water to a heavy-metal session in the seniors' kitchen.

If you, your parents or your grandparents would like images that honour growing older in this way — get in touch.

An older couple in pink and rose at a wooden table in the park, a lake in the background — On the eve of sixty

Family portrait in the park: two women and a man in shades of pink in front of a tree by a lake in Duisburg — Three at the tree

A couple in pink and rose on a wooden bench at the open-air pool, with silver helium balloons spelling 60 behind them — Sixty by the pool

Restaged film poster: three performers in yellow raincoats with umbrellas against a starry backdrop — Singin' in the Rain reloaded

Restaged poster for the 1944 German film »Die Frau meiner Träume«: Marianne Walter as the leading lady in the style of a colour-film musical, with fur collar, black veil and an orange flower in her hair — The Woman of My Dreams reloaded

Restaged poster for the 1964 Margaret Rutherford film: Johanna Schmidt as Agatha Christie's »Miss Marple« in front of a red theatre curtain, with a bloodied knife and a still figure in the foreground — Murder Ahoy! reloaded

Restaged film poster: Wilhelm and Hildegard Zander as the film couple in classic Hollywood style, with the tagline »They have a date with fate in Casablanca reloaded« — Casablanca reloaded

Restaged poster for the classic 1944 German film whose name refers to a fire-tongs punch — Johann Menner in tails and a top hat next to the flaming bowl — Die Feuerzangenbowle reloaded

Restaged poster for the German WWI flying-ace film »Der Rote Baron«: lead actor in a pilot's cap and red scarf in front of a red biplane, with aircraft duelling in the sky behind — The Red Baron reloaded

An older gentleman in a checked tweed jacket sitting thoughtfully in front of an antique display cabinet with silverware — By the cabinet

An older gentleman in a checked tweed jacket in front of a well-stocked white bookcase in daylight — By the bookshelves

Staged portrait in front of a red theatre curtain: Ingeburg Matthes (86) knitting in an armchair while her son Jürgen (61) appears in a baroque mirror with a tangle of wool — Reflections in Time — Ingeburg and Jürgen Matthes

Staged portrait in front of a red theatre curtain: Margarete Ferner (86) cooking at a trolley while a baroque mirror shows seven members of her family across four generations — Reflections in Time — the Ferner family

Staged portrait in front of a red theatre curtain: Gertrud Bouten (87) seated with a women's magazine and an ice cream, while the mirror shows her grandson and great-grandson at the newsstand — Reflections in Time — the Bouten family

Staged portrait in front of a red theatre curtain: Christel Pagel (79) in a wheelchair painting at an easel while her grandsons Pascal and Yannick (17) spray graffiti in the baroque mirror — Reflections in Time — Christel Pagel and grandsons

Staged portrait in front of a red theatre curtain: Manfred Manenbach (84) filming with a Super-8 camera while his granddaughter Lena (22) takes a phone selfie with Labrador Duke (3 months) in the mirror — Reflections in Time — Manfred Manenbach, Lena and Duke

An elderly resident and a younger woman sitting head to head on a motorcycle in the foyer of an AWOcura home — On the bike

An elderly resident and a young heavy-metal fan with a bass guitar rocking out with a metal salute in a small kitchen, complete with stage smoke — Heavy metal in the kitchen

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