Since the ‘spatial turn’ in the mid-90s, the concept of identity as a container that can be filled with very different, even contradictory contents, is an established notion in literary theory. The project “Particles” transforms this idea into a study of sculptural photography. Each cube contains objects collected in a specific location across Luxembourg city. In their compressed appearance, they are meant to represent a given site’s identity in a condensed form. By looking at clues for human activities in public places in and around Luxembourg City, “Particles” questions the social and geographical identities of these sites. The starting point was the quarter around Luxembourg City’s train station, which has a bad reputation because it is frequented by drug dealers and sex workers. Oftentimes people have strong stereotypes of Luxembourg’s supposedly clean and neat urban landscape. “Particles” challenges these clichés by juxtaposing the purpose of a place with what actually happens in those spots such as parking lots, playgrounds, or public gardens. By compressing the found objects, the given place’s identity, marked by human activity happening there over time, is being condensed. On location, these particles are so widespread they become unnoticeable. Yet, they tell a given place’s story through its materialism, traces of consumption and different forms of usage, often contrasting the place’s original purpose: Drug utensils can be found on a playground, fast food on a sports field, or a junkie squat right next to a prestigious bank. The standardised appearance was chosen to allow for a level of comparison between these places. The objects were compressed into acrylic glass cubes that were originally designed to be put over artefacts in museums and here preserve modern-day urban artefacts of the Anthropocene. The sculpture itself is part of the process, but not the end result. The medium of photography allows me to conserve these ephemeral compositions, but also to be consistent about the aspect of composition; since I consciously select what objects to make visible, the angle from which I photograph is of great importance. With “Particles”, I propose a different approach to landscape photography that both deconstructs and reassembles a given site and thereby allows to combine aspects of architecture, urbanism, sociology and archaeology. At the same time, I am well aware that despite my effort to give a representative depiction, it is not an empirically accurate representation, but my subjective view on the place. Having studied literature, I am also interested in the poetic aspect of this kind of landscape photography. As in a poem, a lot is left out and only the necessary elements are left, thereby assigning every single element a narrative value. Book: Particles - published with Kehrer Verlag in October 2019 (longlisted for the award “Deutschlands schönste Bücher / Germany’s Most Beautiful Books”)