Anne Lass: Places in a state of change

By Heidi Kokborg | Photos: Anne Lass

Cities, interiors and landscapes are never entirely still. For Danish-German photographer Anne Lass, it is the places undergoing transformation that prove the most compelling. Through a contemporary photographic language attentive to architecture, light and atmosphere, she draws our attention to environments and phenomena we might otherwise simply pass by.

Born in Schleswig, Anne Lass has been taking photographs for as long as she can remember. She later studied documentary photography at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, where the architecture and industrial landscape of Germany’s Ruhr district helped shape her way of seeing.

Bornholm.

Years spent living in Chicago and Berlin further developed her fascination with cities, spaces and the way they evolve. “I think much of my work is about things in transformation. I use photography to explore places, reflect the times we live in, and raise awareness about subjects people might otherwise overlook,” says Lass.

One example is Triple Seven, Lass’ acclaimed series documenting Berlin’s gambling halls. She began photographing the interiors while living in the city, drawn to their unusual combination of colour, symbols, lighting and carefully constructed atmosphere. “There was something mysterious about those places. The colours, the light and the interiors came together in a very particular way,” she explains.

Residua.

Many of the gambling halls she photographed around 2014 have since disappeared, adding another layer to a project already concerned with contemporary urban life and transformation. Triple Seven was published as a book and exhibited at Fotografiska Berlin in 2024.

About 11 years ago, Lass moved to the Danish island of Bornholm, where she established the artist residency BEAST, and this year co-opened the art space OBLIQ. The island offered a striking contrast to the cities that had long occupied her work, something she explored, among other things, by photographing Bornholm at night and experiencing its darkness.

Yet transformation remains a recurring thread. Lass is currently working on a long-term project concerned with climate change and coastal erosion, looking at changing landscapes and the ways people attempt to adapt to them.

Polar Bear Chicago from Wandeln.

Her gaze remains international, too. China has become another important setting for her work, with recent exhibitions in Guangzhou and Foshan at the gallery Art On Space. A newly awarded travel grant will take her back to China in 2027 to continue her project. “I’m inspired by Bornholm, but I still have a great desire to travel,” says Lass. Whether photographing a city, an interior or a changing coastline, it is that instinct to observe what is shifting around us that continues to drive her work.