VIDEO

Shot at the lonely beaches of the Baltic Sea in December, 2021. Dedicated to those who I miss greatly and those who have ever grieved deeply. How can a gap hurt so much? How can something non physical feel so physical? This empty space in your chest, that lets you breathe heavily, accompanied by the sickening sensation of a lump in your throat and a part of your soul being cut off. This is a feeling I experienced intensively several times within two years, by losing very close people that I wish I had never lost. Not only to death, but also to inevitable fate caused by avoidable incidents and hurt feelings. All that is left for me are their ghosts...manifested memories of the past as apparition of the gone. As photography has always been a cure for me, I wanted to channel my feelings into a very personal project to help me coping with the abundance of gloomy mood that had seemed to multiply within the past weeks. The very last project in 2021 to end this fateful year befittingly. I decided to give it a try by shooting my most personal film ever: about devotion, spiritual kinship, loss and the feeling of being left alone with the last remains of strong bonds...ghosts of those, who once stood so close to me and left in silence from one day to the next. Johanna and me were birds of a feather during the process of filming all alone at the Baltic Sea in December 2021 on a one week journey. I took quotes from songs by Nature&Organisation and Current93 and cited them in the video. I used to listen to both bands a lot in my early goth years because of their wonderful lyrics and remembered some lines a while ago. There were no better words to describe the feelings I had. Soulmate/ghost: Patine Noire Soulmate/mourning girl: Maria Mantis Photography Cam: Patine Noire, Maria Mantis Photography Editing, Voice: Maria Mantis Photography Music: Zachery David Lyrics: Nature&Organisation, Current93

Shot in Oktober 2021. An autumnal dark moodfilm accompanied by the german poem "Sehnsucht" by Reiner Maria Rilke. Shot in the Black Forest. Model & Voice: Maria Mantis Photography Lyrics: Reiner Maria Rilke

Shot in 2021. Official musicvideo for Dark Wave/Cold Wave band InDecision. Cam/Editing: Eisenschmitt Fotografie, Maria Mantis Photography Female Model: Virginiaschneewittchen

Shot in 2020 in Iceland. A moodfilm for my whole "Two Sisters" series about the love of two sisters with one turing into a mermaid after drowning herself in the sea and the other sister following her by doing the same. Models: Mel Empire, Patine Noire Cam: Eisenschmitt Fotografie, Maria Mantis Photography Editing: Maria Mantis Photography Music: Alistair Sung

Shot in 2018 in Southern Iceland. "The Skotta Project - an Icelandic Tale" is a photoseries I took back in 2018 during a two week stay in Iceland. It took nearly two years to plan it, including half a year of designing and creating the costumes together with german fashion label "Schnittmuskel". This series depicts some of Iceland's saga creatures, like the Margygyr (siren), Katla (a witch) and of course the name giving Skotta - a mourning ghost, that took her life because of a broken heart. Oliver from Eisenschmitt Fotografie and me took this video during the photoshooting sessions in the breathtaking landscapes of rough Iceland. Models: Mel Empire & Patine Noire Cam/Drone: Eisenschmitt Fotografie, Maria Mantis Photography Cut: Maria Mantis Photography Music: The Radial Conservatory

Shot in 2016. This is a moodfilm for my photoseries "Oxymora", that I shot in an abandonded hotel in the Black Forest. This was my second moodfilm. Model: Mel Empire MuAH: Arthemis Maskenbild Costume: Agnieszka Osipa Costumes Cam & Editing. Eisenschmitt Photography and Maria Mantis Photography

Shot in Oktober 2014. Our very first video experiment ever, that we shot for my Halloween photo series "The Loss" about a mourning ghost of a young mother, who lost her child in childbed. We had the opportunity to shoot this in a wonderful abandonded hotel in the Black Forest. Model: Otiga va Tjera MuAH: Arthemis Maskenbild Dress: Johanna Macht Cam: Eisenschmitt Fotografie and Maria Mantis Photography Editing and Music: Eisenschmitt Fotografie