In May 2023, a new ticket for unlimited travel on all local public transport was introduced in Germany: the Deutschlandticket (Germany ticket). For a monthly price of initially 49 Euros, suddenly all the parts of the country connected to the local transport network were accessible. The introduction of the Deutschlandticket provided all the parameters for a photographic project. It defined both a location and a subject: Germany. It established a time frame: From the introduction of the ticket until its possible discontinuation — or, put differently: now. And it specified a means of transportation: local public transport — regional trains, busses, trams, metros, sometimes ferries. In short: Germany, now, by local public transport.
I have since taken many trips with the Deutschlandticket and have so far visited more than ninety cities, towns, and villages all over Germany, many of them for the first time, covering as much ground as possible while trying to photographically make sense of the country in its current state. Since I have started the project, the coalition government that introduced the ticket has had to dissolve; the influence of right-wing extremism on the German political landscape is ever-increasing; the threat of fascism is real; there are multiple crises, and, at the same time, there is a lot of business-as-usual and maintaining the status quo. Some traditions are still pursued as they have been for decades. In some places, Germany still looks like it did when I was a child; other places are nothing like they used to be. As always, there is people going about their lives, there is the banal and the absurd, and sometimes the unexpected. And there are of course also moments of solidarity, resilience and hope.
Deutschlandticket is an ongoing project. There is still a lot of ground to cover, and there are many open questions, not least what kind of an image of Germany to construct with these images of Germany. At the moment, however, the focus is on trying to document, as comprehensively as possible, Germany in all its complexity – now, by local public transport.