characteristic feature of otto baier‘s works is their extraordinary simplicity – and their expression of compelling energy in forms and proportions, which seem to have grown naturally from the material and process of work. the conception of the book was to make the creative process comprehensible – the process in its mixture of conscious planning and spntaneity in a more and more disappearing craft.

»… the most sensitive photos by christof leistl, the young photographer from munich, who also laid out the publication of the book, convey the caracter of otto baier’s fixed »immobilien« objects, their relation to space and atmosphere of room… therefore the photos illustrate the work process of the black-smith, which has largely been forgotten… the photographic documentation does not only form a many sided portrait but it also pays homage to one of the oldest crafts of mankind …« (hephaistos, magazine for metal sculptors)

published 2000