German photographer relies on Sihl Wallpaper Persomural 170 for FotoDoks event

The annual FotoDoks festival and exhibition of contemporary documentary photography is a chance for some of the world’s best photographers to display their works of art.  The 2012 exhibition was no exception with some of the best German and British photographers exhibiting works under the title ‘Attention â€" Respect, Control and Change’.

The 2012 festival and exhibition was held in Munich City Museum and attracted over 4800 people interested in not only seeing the photography on display, but also in listening to the various discussions, short documentation films and workshops.

This festival’s theme referred to the complex issues with which contemporary documentary photography is facing and the exhibition displayed 15 stunning photographic positions, by seven British and eight German photographers, which were dedicated to a particular issue of our time. One photographer Kai Wiedenhöfe, famous for his book projects and exhibitions, chose Sihl Wallpaper Persomural 170 to display his extraordinary panoramic view of the American/Mexican border.

Born in Schwennigen in 1966, photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer studied at University of Essen and since 1989 has followed the Near East as his main career orientated subject. In the past many grants and prizes have recognised his work. In December 2012 his latest book ‘Confrontier' about walls bordering and separating, was launched worldwide. The main focus of the book is the differences in border situations and how they are interpreted differently by the viewer.

The Munich City Museum exhibited eight panoramic 210 x 70 cm border views between the USA and Mexico all from the photographer, all using Sihl Wallpaper Persomural 170.

As one of the sponsors of the 2012 festival, Sihl provided Sihl Wallpaper Persomural 170 matt 3260 for the exhibition. This high quality paper has an elegant and water fast inkjet coating when printed with water based pigment inks. The fine matt surface structure finish achieves high colour brilliance with a wide gamut which is perfect for colourful panoramic photography. The inks are quick dry and thanks to the bonding of the inks, high durability is achieved.

Due to the high dimensional stability and water fastness of the 180 g/m2, Wallpaper Persomural 170 can be hung using everyday wallpaper paste. Unlike all wallpapers, lining up patterns after hanging, is easy and due to its dry structure is also easy to remove after use, without any problems. Its high opacity and tight structure enables a perfect covering, even when faced with small cracks and uneven walls. And the scratch resistance of the PVC-free media makes mounting easy and carefree.

Ian Turnbull, operations director of Sihl Direct UK, said, “Kai Wiedenhöfer chose our wallpaper for several reasons. It has an attractive structure, the good dimensional stability of the fleece material â€" in both a dry and wet state and easy bonding and handling. Of course one of the main reasons he chose the Sihl Wallpaper was because it offers the best printing results, which is most important when printing vivid images on such a huge scale.”

He added, “Also, the fleece basis of Persomural170 matt 3260 makes it possible to reuse the prints. By using the adhesive supplement Tylose (methyl cellulose), the paper can be moistened and removed after the exhibition. It can be moistened again, pasted and then remounted in other locations. Even after repeated use, the dimension of the material remains unchanged and the printed image is as brilliant as ever.”