Anne Lass - Triple Seven

Anne Lass (1978-)

Leather sofas and fitted carpets, radiant shapes and dark corridors. Disko Bay is thrilled to present Anne Lass’s new colorful book Triple Seven, an immersive documentation of Berlin’s disappearing gambling dens, in a narrative that plays with elements from distant galaxies, exotic islands, and futuristic landscapes.

Red, violet, and blue colors permeate the images, but there’s more at play than just form and color. The Danish-German photographer lived in Berlin from 2007 to 2014, where she was fascinated by the many gambling halls in the Berlin cityscape, most of which was located in the poorer neighborhoods. Lass visited over 100 of Berlin’s approximately 500 small casinos and went on a picture hunt in these often closed and private environments. Here, she documented old machines, gaming tables, and the people who frequented them. Not to condemn, but to try to understand and take the players’ desires seriously: the hope for a better life and the longing for a bit of happiness.

After new legislation came into effect a few years ago, many of the gaming establishments had to close, and over 80% of them have already disappeared, with many of them depicted in this work.

The project sheds light on a phenomenon that is relevant beyond the borders of Berlin – humanity’s eternal pursuit of (financial) happiness. At the same time, it is a visual investigation of the signs, symbols, and objects deliberately used to seduce. It is a photographic record of districts undergoing change due to crises and gentrification, and a documentation of places that have not been extensively explored until now.

Anne Lass is an acclaimed Danish-German photographer living and working on the island of Bornholm. Her richly descriptive, medium-format color photographs present an eclectic mix of places, objects or individuals rooted in a quiet still life tradition merging documentary form and poetic tenderness. Lass holds a diploma in Documentary Photography from Folkwang Hochschule der Künste and has had multiple solo and group exhibitions in Europe and USA. Her works are included in the collections of Museum of Avantgarde, Danish Arts Foundation and C/O Berlin.