Exploring Family, Identity and Healing | An Interview with Oliver Raschka

Oliver Raschka is a self-taught photographer and holds a doctorate in behavioural economics. His focus is on the visual sociology of the everyday with an emphasis on trauma, identity, family narratives, and adolescence. 

Over his career as an expert on behavioural issues in markets and organisations, he developed a particular way of capturing the dynamics and peculiarities of social relationships, and his experience has helped him better understand the nature of psychology. 

For many years, he has explored the themes of family and the search for identity through documentary photography. His work includes a long-term project documenting the everyday lives of his two sons — from childhood to adolescence over sixteen years — and has resulted in two books: "The world ain't enough…" and "Tween".

We were thrilled to speak to Oliver and gain an insight into his practice and his unique perspective on documentary photography. Read on for our conversation with Oliver, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Instagram: @oliverraschka 

Photo Credit: Oliver Raschka

Leo White: Oliver, your work merges your study of behavioural economics with photography in a deeply personal way. How does your background influence your photographic themes and how you frame them?

Oliver Raschka: For some context, I address trauma and depression through my photography, and this has helped me realise I’ve always been fascinated with human behaviour. It was this that triggered my decision to delve deeper into photography and business psychology in my studies. I devoted my doctoral thesis to human behaviour in organisations and economic markets. 

My studies have given me a strong foundation in communication, interaction, and the ways human behaviour plays out in specific contexts. Both in academia and professional life, my focus has been on recognising underlying patterns behind symptoms and using them to develop constructive behavioural changes. 

In my latest photographic archival work, “Sorrow Is All The Pain of Love” - a series where I explore how personal traumas of serious family events, illnesses and burnout, manifest visually - my experience and training helped me recognise structures and relationships within my family. In doing so, I have gained a new level of observation, meaning, and growth. 

Generally, I try to capture the natural behaviours closest to my family's true nature, not allowing myself to be distracted by escapism, but rather capture the everyday things that shape our lives. As a result, I now have a more complete and nuanced understanding of the world around me and why I took up photography as a young adult.

LW: At what point did your long-term projects emerge from daily life into intentional storytelling? What sparked that realisation? 

OR: The realisation has been ongoing. Over the past 20 years, my life has been shaped by constant change and shifting meaning. After my mother’s sudden death, I began to take photography more seriously, and the journey that followed has led me to reflect deeply on life and death. 

Today, I examine my own fleeting existence more closely, and because of this, I’d say that daily life and conscious storytelling will always go hand-in-hand. I react to the decisive moment through photography. The images I share are unfiltered snapshots of the everyday life of a family.

I don't plan to depict specific situations or emotions when taking photographs. I don't stage scenes. Instead, I simply use my camera to capture what I see in front of me — a silent observer, capturing the present moment. When you’re truly engaged with your surroundings or familiar with your subjects, you can anticipate the shots. Often there’s only time for one or two frames before the moment disappears.

I have been documenting my sons' everyday lives for over sixteen years now. When I started photographing the boys, I didn't have a book in mind. But I quickly realised that it would become a project. So, yes — the realisation is ongoing.

LW: Your projects have followed your children from childhood into adolescence. How has that project evolved both visually and emotionally as they, and you, have grown? 

OR: For over sixteen years now, the focus of my work has been on the everyday life of two boys and their brotherhood. “The World Ain't Enough..” deals with childhood and living in the moment, while “Tween” deals with the years of puberty during the pandemic.

Ultimately, both projects ask the same questions: What is it like to be a child or teenager in these tense times? What drives young people today? What are the similarities and differences between my youth and my relationship with my parents?

Now they are older, as a parent, my focus is now guidance and support rather than parenting.

Experiencing puberty during the pandemic has made me realise that children in the transition from childhood to adolescence face many challenges they cannot, and should not, have to handle, many of which stem from adults who are often unable to resolve them wisely or quickly. 

Young people receive too little social attention regarding their worries and fears for the future, leaving them at risk of falling through the cracks. 

In many ways, little seems to have improved. The similarities between my youth and theirs are quite striking. They are just different points in time of the same plot line, both personally and socially.

Thanks to this long-term project, I have the chance to experience life’s rollercoaster once again, both as a photographer and as a father. In doing so, my work also mirrors an unsteady stage of life for me.

LW: Your photographs have a very distinctive style. How did you develop this approach?

OR: Over the years, I have developed a consistent visual style, which is due to approaching projects in the same way — rather than considering the purpose of the image at the time of capture, I discover the themes when viewing and selecting photographs for my ongoing projects. 

Once I’ve highlighted those images, I take into account my other roles as a person — a father, a husband — and we discuss as a family which photographs we would like to show.

As long as photography is a tool that supports me in capturing my emotions, whether consciously or unconsciously, it creates a positive tension that allows me to reexamine and resolve encounters, situations, or traumas. So, documentation and emotional expression go hand in hand. This process is stress-relieving.

LW: Looking back through your archive, how do the recurring motifs and your process of selecting and archiving images help reveal deeper meaning and serve as both creative expression and catharsis?”

OR: In the early years of ”Sorrow Is All The Pain of Love”, I took self-portraits that were like silhouettes, but today, they are direct facial photographs. 

Looking back, this reinforces my sense that I used to feel like I was floating through life like a ghost instead of being present in the here and now. I needed the shadow to reassure me that I was “there“, but at the same time, I was ephemeral and transparent to my surroundings. 

The question of what life brings me and how I can truly experience it was especially present during my teenage years. My move towards “honest” self-portraits reflects a process of self-acceptance, embracing both strengths and weaknesses without reservation, and understanding that life as a whole is a journey. 

I see a similar process unfolding in my own teenagers today, and I am now able to respond with greater support and security. 

This project is driven by love. Both for oneself and for the people who hold a special place in our lives, and through the work of overcoming trauma. The photographs from the archive, removed from their original setting, help me to experience a new sensitivity for the events they depict. This extends to the viewer as well, since the images carry a universal readability.

As mentioned earlier, the archive has also become a tool in my everyday life. I now use these photographs within the context of trauma therapy, gradually developing my own personal approach.

About the Author

Leo White has been part of the Wex Photo Video team since 2018, taking on roles from the contact centre to the product setup team. Holding both a BA and an MA in photography, Leo brings a wealth of expertise he’s always ready to share.

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