Most of us go to museums to look at the art. Not Austrian photographer Stefan Draschan. He focuses on the people. The result? Happy serendipity that will make you smile.
Sometimes it’s a sweater that mirrors the colours of the canvas, sometimes it’s the hair, or a person looking like they are part of the composition in front of them. The similarities are so uncanny the images almost appear staged. But they are not. Stefan Draschan’s series, People Matching Artworks is the product of extreme patience, and luck. The Austrian photographer spends hours in museums waiting for the perfect combination of paintings and people. But for him, they are hours well spent, because it means that he has plenty of time to admire the art.
“As long as there are museums and great artworks I love, I’ll continue!”
“It can sometimes take me years of observation until someone pops up,” Draschan explains, describing how in one case, when he finally spotted the ideal match for a specific painting, he almost missed his chance. “I was so nervous that four of the five photographs I took were blurred!”
Sometimes people recognise themselves or loved ones in his photos, and he has had messages from people from all over the world. He began his ongoing project in 2015 and has taken around 1,500 images so far. “As long as there are museums and great artworks I love, I’ll continue!” he says. Other series of his include: People Sleeping in Museums and People Touching Artworks.
See Stefan Draschan’s work at stefandraschan.com
