Martens, O. Geschichte leben. Living history

Making the fateful year of 1813 tangible, bringing the past to life by reliving and re-enacting it: this is the passion that drives people from many countries and social classes and unites them in re-enactments.
From April 2012 to May 2013, the well-known Leipzig photographer Olaf Martens documented numerous such theatrical and historical re-enactments as part of his long-term project "People with Passions" in the section "1813". He photographed the meetings of thousands of amateurs organised in associations, who have been meeting several times a year for a long time to re-enact the events of 1813, especially in Markkleeberg, Stolpen, Polenz, Grimma, Liebertwolkwitz, Buttstädt, Großgörschen and Groitzsch.

The approximately 10,000 photographs, which were taken over more than 20 days of photography with subsequent digital post-processing using various colour filters, were only possible thanks to the long-term support of GEO magazine, LTM (Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH) and the company Phase One. The motifs, most of which are now being presented in printed form for the first time, give an impression of the life of the population and soldiers at the time and of the battle of 1813. Portrait shots show the passion, empathy and historical accuracy with which the actors from various European countries managed to get as close as possible to the events of 1813. Not only the uniforms of the nations involved in the battle are on display, but above all the people of today, whose portrayal goes far beyond the military and into a time that still characterises the history of this region, but also the history of Europe.
Short contributions by photographer Olaf Martens, Michél Kothe, chairman of the board of the Verband Völkerschlacht b. Leipzig 1813 e.V., and Arnd Wesemann, theatre scholar and editor-in-chief of the magazine "Tanz", round off the illustrated book.

About the author/photographer:
Olaf Martens was born in Halle in 1963. From 1985 to 1990, he studied at the Academy of Visual Arts (HGB) in Leipzig under Helfried Strauß. He was a master student of Wolfgang G. Schröter from 1990 to 1992.
In 1990, he co-founded the Leipzig photo agency punctum and began working as a freelance photographer for magazines in the fields of fashion, portraiture and reportage. Since then, he has published work in renowned publications such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, stern, SPIEGEL, art and GEO. He has realised exhibitions and projects throughout Europe, including in St. Petersburg, Rotterdam, Milan, Zurich and Madrid.
After teaching in Berlin, Sydney, Bangkok and Moscow, Olaf Martens has been a regular lecturer at the renowned EFTI photography school in Madrid since 2006. His work on 1813 is part of his long-term project "People with Passions".