Vorwiegend festkochend / Sprouts and Skins

Although originating in South America, the potato is, peculiarly, deeply intertwined with German identity. Inconspicuous, misshapen, and persistently underestimated, “Solanum tuberosum” captured my fascination precisely because of these humble, unpretentious qualities.

Driven by this curiosity, I embarked on an immersive, year-long photographic research project dedicated to the humble tuber: “Vorwiegend festkochend / Sprouts and Skins”. Over twelve months, my hands-on investigation led me to gather ravenous beetles directly from raw potato leaves, bury undeveloped rolls of film deep within nutrient-dense agricultural soil, plant and tend my own modest patch of potatoes, and even spend time with the fastest potato peeler in the nation. Day after day, I repeatedly boiled, fried, analyzed, and consumed the very subject of my work.

My quest expanded into an extensive journey across diverse landscapes: from towering mechanical harvesters, high-tech agricultural laboratories, vast seed gene banks, and climate-controlled greenhouses, to rustic storage barns, advanced georesearch centers, and historical phytopathological archives. I paid homage at a legendary Prussian king's grave and ultimately returned to the familiar grounds of my home village. Through this extensive process, I came to realize that the potato has not only fundamentally altered world history and global nutrition, but it also harbors ambitious plans for the future, poised, quite possibly, to one day thrive on the distant soil of Mars.

This project culminated in a self-published book of the same name. Exploring the rich cultural history of the potato through a blend of documentary photography, rigorous empirical research, and a touch of sly humor, the publication weaves a multi-layered narrative connecting earthly agriculture to cosmic exploration. It synthesizes original photography, archival found slides, critical texts, and technical graphics into a playful, comprehensive visual study.

Theresa Wißmann took part in our Face-to-Face educational feedback program with our Program Curator Francesca Hummler during Les Rencontres d’Arles 2026.