Dieter Appelt German, b. 1935

"In the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by Viennese activists, Dieter Appelt initially practiced photography by using it as a record to capture specific moments of his actions. Later, he sought boundary-pushing images to question not only his body but also the nature of photography itself. In 'La tache que le souffle produit sur le miroir' (The Stain Breath Produces on the Mirror), 1977, the trace of breath is the sole element that allows one to detect life in this man who appears dead. In 'Trace du souvenir' (Trace of Memory), Dieter Appelt presents a mineralized body coated with a thin layer of clay. Similar to Viennese Actionism, this body—his own body—is exposed to various experiences and torments. However, Appelt is not interested in a lifeless body outside of time. It is precisely the idea of time that he seeks to bring into photography."

Excerpt from Christian Bouqueret's text for the catalog of the exhibition "Le corps photographié"  [The Photographed Body] at FRAC Alsace / La Filature, 1995, p. 57.