In 1988, the glamorous East German skater, Katarina Witt, and her American rival, Debbi Thomas, both chose to dance the role of Carmen in the final of the Olympics. For Sporting Witness, Witt recalls a contest that became known as the "Battle of the Carmens".
Gottmann’s urban photography shows architecture and human beings, both mysteriously blurred and strangely disconnected from one another. He creates photographic metaphors that evoke a general, self-inflicted anguish inherent in modern Western society: Façades rise impressively into the sky, leading the eye into deep skyscraper canyons, while silhouettes of the human figure seem fragile and helpless. The question arises whether society is still in command of its self-established, modern values or if it’s suffering from them.