Erasmus Schröter’s (1956 - 2021) protagonists are not models. In his complex series “Komparsen” (Extras) the Leipzig photographer focuses on creating universal portraits of average, middle-aged people. He finds his subjects in the files of extras for theatres in his hometown, and for a moment they are the center of attention in his elaborate photo shoots. Combinated with backgrounds of the fading colors of bygone days in East Germany, Schröter succeeds in creating an impressive interplay between staged image and photographic document. Schröter’s basic means of creation is light, and to this day he is a firm proponent of analog photography.Prints of the works in the series have been exclusively published in a limited edition and in smaller formats by Kunsthandel Jörg Maaß in 2014.