Comments on: Karambolage - The Photography and Art of Arnold Odermatt

Karambolage - The Photography and Art of Arnold Odermatt

carter — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:09:57 -0800

Arnold Odermatt is a Swiss policeman who worked in Niwalden between 1948 and 1990 and who took curiously fascinating photographs of police work and car crashes. His prints are now sold in art galleries.

He could take quite a time to set up some of his shots, to the sometime annoyance of his colleagues, apparently. Some online galleries of his work: 1 2 3 4 5

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:18:35 -0800

What an amazing body of work. Ha.

By: infini

infini — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:22:41 -0800

your links are reversed :) the wiki link is at body of work and the body of work is at the name (unless this was intentional for some reason?)

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:24:54 -0800

Arriving at the scene of an accident, Odermatt would take one set of photographs for the insurance or police reports, and then take another for himself. His reasons for doing so are mysterious... Not to anyone who's read J.G. Ballard.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:26:20 -0800

Fantastic -- I wonder what his police work and office evaluations were like.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:28:53 -0800

Arnold Odermatt the Nidwalden Police [sic] in 1948. He was forced to give up his original career as a bakery and pastry chef on health grounds. There are times when I wish Wikipedia had room to say more.

By: beau jackson

beau jackson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:32:25 -0800

Love it- thanks Carter.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:35:07 -0800

I don't know why, but this reminds me of Seinfeld's Chalk Outline Guy bit.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:56:09 -0800

Is there an explanation of what happened to these auto taillights?

By: tommasz

tommasz — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:07:10 -0800

Is there an explanation of what happened to these auto taillights? Given the lack of damage to the paint around them, it had to be internal heat. But, geez, you'd think the fuse would have blown long before that point.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:07:25 -0800

Kirth, perhaps too close to another car which became a carbeque?

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:08:57 -0800

tommasz, I think you could heat auto paint and rubber to over 300 degrees or more without damage, but the plastic is going to melt in there somewhere. These photos are wonderful.

By: PhillC

PhillC — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:12:50 -0800

I concerned about the frequency of which Swiss drivers seem to end up in bodies of water. These photos are indeed wonderful.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:25:18 -0800

Here's a map to show the area around Oberdorf, NW. Truth is, this is one of the most beautiful places on the planet Earth, and about an hour's train ride from where I sit :-)

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:31:50 -0800

PhillC: I've lived here 3 years, and not seen any cars in the lakes. But the scenery is extremely distracting, and the water isn't salty, so your car won't corrode. LOL! That's Vierwaldstättersee there (Lake Lucerne), and the combination of mountains and water is breath taking.

By: growabrain

growabrain — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:44:13 -0800

Bravo! Evocative work.

By: Renoroc

Renoroc — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:44:46 -0800

Since the photos are work product, should not his employer (the Swedish government) get the profits? Also, where to do we draw the line at using photographs of tragic events as art for profit? I'd feel a little cheated if I got in an accident and someone else profits by taking and selling photos of it. I think it leads to a slippery slope that will soon cater to gorehounds. How would you feel if someone snapped a pic of a dead kid in a mangled car, made it black and white and became wealthy from it?

By: gofargogo

gofargogo — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:27:30 -0800

But he isn't making money off of photos of dead kids. They are photographs of inanimate objects (in terms of car crashes) on public roads.

By: Bathtub Bobsled

Bathtub Bobsled — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:43:35 -0800

Not to anyone who's read J.G. Ballard. Crash or Concrete Island?

By: carter

carter — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:50:52 -0800

Oh you're right infini - I think I needed coffee ...

By: infini

infini — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:53:47 -0800

Put in a mod request maybe?

By: carter

carter — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:01:27 -0800

I think it's fine; folks are still seeing the photos.

By: lumpenprole

lumpenprole — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:39:20 -0800

These are some brilliant photographs. This guy was a natural.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:49:04 -0800

I think it leads to a slippery slope that will soon cater to gorehounds. He took photos on the job for 42 years, and never catered to the gorehounds.

By: Terminal Verbosity

Terminal Verbosity — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:50:33 -0800

Isn't this just a still shot from From Russia With Love?

By: beau jackson

beau jackson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:49:34 -0800

Isn't this just a still shot from From Russia With Love? I'm very interested that someone brought this up. Older James Bond movies are exactly what these photos remind me of (I was born in the 80s). I'm guessing it's the style of clothing, and even more so how the film in previous decades "caught" the colours (I'm making up terms here).

By: Prince Lazy I

Prince Lazy I — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:44:02 -0800

These put me immediately in mind of the early novels of Friedrich Dürrenmatt - Der Richter und sein Henker, Der Verdacht, Die Panne, Das Versprechen. Great stuff, if you can find them. (NB: Sean Penn filmed Das Versprechen as The Pledge.)

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:55:12 -0800

How would you feel if someone snapped a pic of a dead kid in a mangled car, made it black and white and became wealthy from it? You've just described the entirely of the newspaper and TV news programming. One police photographer-cum-artist is a long way down any shit list on that score.