My enemy

Do you have an enemy? And if so, what would you do with him  if you could do it without getting punished?
This was the question Bettina Flitner asked random passers-by in the streets of Cologne and Berlin. The women had an arsenal of toy weapons they could chose from, or not, to illustrate their answers. This way 12 photo portraits were made and 12 surprising confessions. Each of the women had an "enemy", almost all of them fantasized killing.

The exhibition. In September 1992 Flitner exhibited the photographs and original quotations in Colognes busiest shopping mile, the Schildergasse. The 12 larger than life photo sculptures led from the street into the Antoniter Church, the last picture hung above the altar. Reactions of people and media were fierce. The newspaper Bild headlined "Disgrace!" A ban of the exhibition due to "promotion of violence" was demanded. As a matter of fact the district attorney got involved and investigated "incitement of the people" und "defamation". The exhibition was banned from the street for several days, but was then opened again.

The film.  Together with the camera woman Christel Fomm, Bettina Flitner documented the spontaneous and passionate controversial reactions of the people to the photographs. The film, which received numerous awards, was broadcast by the WDR (West German Broadcasting Corporation) and shown at multiple festivals, among others at the Berlin film festival Berlinale.

The book.

My enemy 12-piece photographic work, 1992