Max Schmitz, Sans Souci

“Our point of departure must be the conception of an almost childlike play-sense expressing itself in various play-forms, some serious, some playful, but all rooted in ritual and productive of culture by allowing the innate human need of rhythm, harmony, change, alternation, contrast and climax, etc., to unfold in full richness.”  – Johan Huizinga

Sans Souci is a series about a place in the south of France where Max Schmitz keeps returning to since his childhood. It’s a place that functions as his photographic playground, a safe zone for making mistakes, an area that gives an insight in the world he inhabits. In it nature no longer functions as an alien background, but becomes a tool for the artist to create his own magical universe.

“Our point of departure must be the conception of an almost childlike play-sense expressing itself in various play-forms, some serious, some playful, but all rooted in ritual and productive of culture by allowing the innate human need of rhythm, harmony, change, alternation, contrast and climax, etc., to unfold in full richness.”  – Johan Huizinga

Sans Souci is a series about a place in the south of France where Max Schmitz keeps returning to since his childhood. It’s a place that functions as his photographic playground, a safe zone for making mistakes, an area that gives an insight in the world he inhabits. In it nature no longer functions as an alien background, but becomes a tool for the artist to create his own magical universe.