MY FRIEND

ENDLESS DEPTH | Endlose Tiefe

Overwhelmed by emotions, falling anchorless into depth after betrayal and heartbreak.
The image ENDLESS DEPTH is based on a quote of the theatre play “My Friend” by Austrian’s Shakespeare Johann Nepomuk Nestroy:

“That was just – my dream for the future has fallen into the water, and even the most decent drowning people allow themselves such straw-grasping attempts, which, however, immediately give way to the solidest cemetery calm.”

ORIGINAL QUOTE:
„Das war nur – mein Zukunftstraum is ins Wasser g’fallen, und selbst die anständigsten Ertrinkenden erlauben sich so Strohalmanklammerungversuche, die aber gleich wieder der solidesten Kirchhofruhe weichen.“

It shows the emotional drowning of the protagonist after being betrayed by his best friend, losing his money and the love of his life.
The long exposure underlines the feeling of disorientation, while the outside world loses its shape.

Eight people worked together over several hours to build the setup. A huge background covered the indoor pool from the 70ies with green and orange walls.
The theatre director Christian Graf, the main actor Paul Graf (same surname but not related) and others from the @nestroyspieleschwechat jumped into the pool full of enthusiasm to create this image, which also was used as poster photo of the NESTROY Theatre Summer Plays, shown in the streets and underground stations all over Vienna and further for the 54th summer plays.

multiple awardwining at the Berlin Photo Awards 2026: 1st Prize: long exposure, 2x 2nd Prize: underwater & open theme, 1x 3rd Prize: fine art

AWARDS:
“Endless Depth”, poster photo of the 54th NESTROY Theatre Schwechat, awarded by the Art Directors Club Germany