Infrastructure and its materiality is as important in culture as practice and communication are. Coming from Latin infra (meaning: below) and structura (meaning: assembly) the etymological meaning of it is something like a formation or a fundament. Infrastructure is a ground that links certain elements and keeps things working or functioning. It covers all persistent organizations on material and technical level as well as on cultural, social, political and not least economic dimensions.
But what do we have in mind when we think about infrastructure? How would we paint a picture of it or write an ethnographic text about it? Which kind of stories do people tell when they are talking about infrastructure? Does it matter to somebody what infrastructure is about at all? How do new infrastructure like security measures and surveillance tools influence public discourse and politics?
This are just a few forcing questions for my photo-ethnography work on infrastructure. The photos and texts provided are thematically ordered. Most of my work takes place in urban settings. This is the reason why I open this section with urban infrastructure.
